MR Mark Zukerberg, the ingenious inventor of facebook could not have, in his wildest dreams, imagined that his project, which was designed for the growth of universal fraternity amongst youths and by extension, human race, will proliferate the incidence of crime, disharmony and barefaced gangsterism within the global space, thereby corroding the very essence of its creation.FACEBOOK, launched in February 2004, is one of the most patronised social networks on the web in terms of traffic, attracting over eight million clientele in the United States alone, and millions of users in many other English and non-English speaking countries alike. Unfortunately, the Facebook has become in recent times, the pharmaceutical apothecaries' box, containing both curative and poisonous medicaments.IT is saying the obvious that a lot of socio-economic and political misdemeanor, such as internet fraud, deliberate news distortion and fabrication which are ravaging the globe through the instrumentality of social media, are gradually paling the much-hyped relevance of social communication into insignificance.THE torture and gruesome murder of Miss Cynthia Osokogu, the daughter of a retired Army General by a group of heartless outlaws, seems to have pinched the general public into reality about the horrific and brooding evil the social media has been reduced to in the country. According to newspaper reports, Cynthia, an intelligent and nubile post-graduate student of Nassarawa State University, was tricked by a 33-year-old man, Okwoma Nwabufor, who told her through a facebook chat that he had a stock of clothes she could buy at lower prices than she had been purchasing for her boutique in Keffi Nassarawa State. The industrious lady, in response to this facebook discussion, journeyed to Lagos to meet Nwabufor with bubbling enthusiasm, completely oblivious, as could be expected, of the nefarious intentions of this monster in human skin. Warmly received at the Murtala Mohammed Airport by her host and his cousin, Mr Odera Ezekiel, on her arrival in Lagos, she was chaperoned to the hotel that was already booked for her in FESTAC area of Lagos by her assailants, where she was finally found to have been murdered in cold blood the following day.THE unfortunate ordeal of Cynthia at the hands of these felons has unveiled the inherent risks in the dependence on the social media as an instrument of courting intimate friendship. From the confessional statements of the suspects, it is crystal clear that the passion by Cynthia to develop her business outfit, coupled with a robust trust in human beings boosted the chances and therefore the success of the unholy plan of the crooks. THEY also confessed to have successfully visited their dastardly activities on more than six individuals thus revealing their dexterous expertise in criminal escapades. Obviously, Cynthia, who might have innocently but unfortunately exposed her personal details to the culprits, was therefore an easy prey.WHILE the installation of CCTV in the hotel where Cynthia was lodged accelerated the arrest of the suspects, the inability of the hotel attendants to document the personal data of Cynthia was a grave slip. This, coupled with their failure to routinely monitor the well-being of guests after over 15 hours of checking into their rooms without demanding for food, until they (attendants) were informed to remove the 'bastard' in their room by the suspects through a phone call outside the hotel precincts, exposes a woeful negligence on the part of the hotel management. AGAIN, the Cynthia episode has brought to the fore, the need to enforce the laws that prohibit the sale of certain drugs without the presentation of a certified doctor's prescription. Sadly, Rohypnol, which was injected into a pack of Ribena for hapless Cynthia, is said to be on the prescription list but was sold to the culprits over the counter.WE also like to suggest that the time has come when the authorities must formulate workable policies that will regulate the activities of relaxation centres and medical facilities so as to plug all loopholes towards averting tragedies such as Cynthia's in the country. A situation where these outfits operate with unrestricted latitude should not be tolerated as it is inimical to the country's cultural values and ethos.IN commiserating with the family and friends of Cynthia, we need to strongly admonish both the casual and addicted users of the social media to exhibit generous circumspection in their relationship with online contacts and to always be aware of the fact that predators like Ezekiel and Nwabufor are still on the prowl.
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