The Federal Government has threatened to sanction a foreign
media outlet, CNN, over its report on the alleged shooting of #EndSARS
protesters by soldiers at the Lekki toll plaza on October 20, 2020.
The government described the report by the foreign news
medium as “irresponsible journalism”.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, made this
known on Thursday at a press conference in Abuja. According to him, the
briefing was conveyed to address lingering issues regarding the #EndSARS
protests for police reform that rocked the nation last month.
He described the event of October 20, 2020 as a “massacre
without bodies”, insisting that not a single body has been produced or a single
family has come out to claim their family member was killed at the Lekki
tollgate.
The minister alleged that CNN relied on social media videos
without verification to produce its report. “This should earn CNN a serious
sanction for irresponsible reporting,” Mohammed said.
He added that some “unscrupulous persons” including
celebrities circulated fake news on the social media that aggravated the
violence that trailed the two-week demonstration.
Mohammed also said the government stands by last Saturday’s
testimony of the Commander of 81 Military Intelligence Brigade, Victoria
Island, Lagos, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Taiwo, who told the Judicial Panel of Inquiry
instituted by the Lagos State Government that blank bullets were fired at into
the skies at the toll gate.
He advised persons with evidence on the Lekki shootings to
give its testimony before the Lagos panel probing the incident.
CNN had published an investigative report this week claiming
soldiers fired live ammunition directly at protesters at the Lekki toll gate.
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