Use of Social Media in Mobilising Support for Abductees in Nigeria: A Study of Epe School Kidnap (Published)
This work examines social media usage to support abductees in Nigeria, beaming its searchlight on the case of the 6 Epe school boys, who were kidnapped at The Lagos State Model College on May 24, 2017. This study seeks to know various ways the social media contribute to the freedom of abductees in Nigeria and how potent the social media could be in mobilising support for them. The survey method was adopted, and questionnaire was used to collect data. For this study, 528 questionnaires were given to respondents in the 66 streets on Eredo Local Council Development Area (LCDA), in Epe Local Government of Lagos State. 521 of the questionnaire were returned. Eredo has a population of 18,590, and 3% of the population was used. Purposive sampling method was chosen for this study. This is adopted in order to select the members of the population that are fit to give the correct answers to the research questions. The findings of this study reveal that the contributions of Nigerians and social media outcry made the government and its agencies to take speedy action on the abduction of the Epe school boys. This study finds out that the social media has the power to reach a large number of Nigerians faster than other media of communication. This study therefore recommends that the Civil Society organisations in Nigeria and Human Right Groups should explore the advantages of the social media to reach the people and the government alike. The study also recommends that Nigerians still need orientations on how to maximize the power of the social media.
Keywords: Mobilizing, Nigeria, Social media, Usage, abductees