EFCC declares Yahaya Bello wanted over alleged N80bn ‘financial crimes’
CNN defends report on Lekki Tollgate shooting amid criticism from Federal Government
By Emmanuel Awosika
Cable News Network (CNN) has defended its report on the Lekki Tollgate shooting, insisting it was “carefully and meticulously researched.”
This comes after the Federal Government attacked CNN for its reporting on the alleged shooting of#EndSARS protesters at the Lekki Tollgate by men of the armed forces on October 20.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, accused CNN of partaking in “irresponsible journalism”, and said it based its claims on fake videos from social media.
The Minister said CNN’s report was false and misleading, asking for international sanctions against the media outlet.
However, the media organisation defended its report and rejected the Minister’s claims in a reaction titled ‘Nigeria threatens CNN with sanctions but provides no evidence Lekki toll gate investigation is inaccurate’.
It said: “Our reporting was carefully and meticulously researched, and we stand by it.
“The report was based on testimony from dozens of witnesses, and photos and video obtained and geolocated by CNN. It painted a picture of how members of the Nigerian army and the police shot at the crowd, killing at least one person and wounding dozens more.
“CNN verified photos and videos acquired from multiple eyewitnesses and protesters using timestamps and other data from the video files.
“Video footage shows soldiers who appear to be shooting in the direction of protesters. And accounts from eyewitnesses established that after the army withdrew, a second round of shooting happened later in the evening.
“Prior to publishing the report, CNN tried multiple times to elicit comment from the Nigerian army and police. A Lagos State police spokesman declined to comment because of an ongoing investigation.
“While a statement from the Lagos State government said that there would be no comment while a judicial tribunal was underway.”
