The Federal Government of Nigeria on Monday called on filmmakers in the country to eschew money ritual contents in their movies going forward.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, gave this directive while speaking to newsmen in Abuja.
The minister said the confession of some money ritual suspects that they learnt the heinous act on social media have boosted the resolve of the Federal Government to sanitise the social media.
He said, ‘Many have also blamed Nollywood for featuring money rituals in some of its movies, saying this has negatively influenced the vulnerable youth. To mitigate this, I have directed the National Film and Video Censors Board, the body set up to regulate the film and video industry in Nigeria, to take this issue into consideration while performing its role of censoring and classifying films and videos.
‘I have also directed NFVCB to engage with stakeholders in the film industry in order to express the concerns of the government and Nigerians on the need to eschew money ritual content in their movies.’
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Earlier, Mohammed said, ‘For those who may still be in doubt, ritual killings have assumed a worrisome dimension in recent years…Recently, in Ogun State, four young men, one of whom is 18 years old, murdered their 20-year-old female friend for money rituals.
‘One of them said they learnt about using human parts for money rituals from social media. Of course, you are also aware of a case involving a female student of the University of Jos who was allegedly killed by her boyfriend for ritual purposes. These killings have been widely reported by the media.
‘The fact that some of these ritualists said they learnt the money-making tricks from some social media platforms has given a further fillip to our campaign to rid social media of unwholesome content.’
Mohammed said the government won’t allow the social media space to be suffused with dangerous content, adding that the regime of the President Muhammadu Buhari, won’t relent in its efforts to ensure responsible use of social media.
The minister appealed to religious, traditional and political leaders to be part of efforts to sensitise and reorientate youths to realise that success comes through hard work, not money rituals.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK