A Global rights body, Amnesty International, has condemned the rise in the use of social media to incite inter-tribal violence and hostility among Nigerians.

The human rights organisation, in a tweet on Monday, March 20, said it observed the use of ethnic slurs to incite inter-tribal hatred by journalists, political figures and other influential persons in the country.

“Amnesty International has noted a shocking and significant rise in recent social media posts inciting tribal hatred — using ethnic slurs that have gone unchecked.

“Influential people such as journalists and political figures were among those sharing the inciting posts,” the tweet read.

Amnesty International called on the Federal Government to prohibit inciting hostility, discrimination or violence along ethnic lines.

The NGO said the government must “urgently denounce any statements, online or otherwise, which advocate violence against a specific ethnic group”.

Amnesty International also asked social media platforms — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Whatsapp — to take “responsibility and scale up their content moderation efforts, and ensure that the algorithms behind their platforms are not fueling advocacy of tribal or ethnic hatred”.

After the presidential and national Assembly elections, tribal bigotry increased on social media and has heightened with cases of voter disenfranchisement and targeted attacks on specific ethnic groups during the governorship and state assembly elections.

Ethnicity was a noticeable weapon deployed in the quest to win elections in Lagos, where Igbos in some areas were openly threatened and attacked over the suspicion that they are supporting an opposition candidate.

The cases of intimidation during the governorship and house of assembly elections across the country has sparked tension among Nigerians on the social media, particularly between Yorubas and the Igbo.