The federal government has asked the global human rights group Amnesty International, CNN and DJ Switch to apologize for their role in the worldwide deception that a massacre at the Lekki toll-gate took place on October 20, 2020, during the nationwide #EndSARS protest.
The government has heavily criticized them for maintaining their unproven position on the incident at the Lekki toll booth, which was considered the epicenter of the #EndSARS protest.
According to NAN, the request was made by Information and Culture Minister Alhaji Lai Mohammed at a press conference in which he said the trio should wholeheartedly apologize for portraying the Nigerian army, police, and other security agencies in a bad light.
Nonetheless, This is What the Minister of Information and Culture is saying;
The minister insisted that, contrary to claims made by CNN, Amnesty International, and the disc jockey Switch, the army did not fire at the demonstrators.
Describing what happened that night as a Phantom Massacre, Mohammed said those who spread the massacre story did so with no evidence that people were killed that night.
Mohammed said, “CNN acted unprofessionally, relying on unverified and possibly tampered with social media videos and other open-source information to conclude that there was a massacre at the Lekki toll-gate.
“For its part, CNN counted 38 deaths at first then to two, and finally one after an alleged global exclusivity, even though the network had no journalists on-site at the Lekki toll gate on October 20, 2020.
On Monday, the commission's forensic investigation, which was launched by the Lagos state government after the EndSARS protest ended its sittings.
“CNN was summoned during the session, but she never showed up, missing a great opportunity to prove her allegation of a toll-gate massacre. In its most recent attempt to grab the straws and regain whatever remains of its torn credibility on the matter, CNN continued its baseless report that soldiers shot protesters.
The minister, who said that Amnesty International refused to use a golden opportunity to convince the world and instead issued meaningless press releases, also condemned a recent CNN network report of the alleged massacre, claiming the international news platform did act unprofessionally.
He said: “CNN has shamelessly and outrageously relied on his misrepresentation, relying on an unidentified mother whose son was allegedly shot in Lekki but with no convincing evidence of who shot him.
“The same CNN that tweeted on October 23, 2020, that 38 people were shot in Lekki is now fighting to convince the world that a boy was shot in Lekki. That's a shame.''
He said the federal government took pride in the security agencies for their professionalism and restraint during the protests against EndSARS and the violence that followed, which helped save the lives and property of many people.
It is worth remembering that on October 20, 2020, some #EndSARS protesters protesting police brutality and other human rights violations were reportedly shot dead by the Nigerian army at the Lekki toll-gate, resulting in deaths and various forms of violence, though the military denied shooting protesters.
However, the Lagos State government has set up a judicial panel to investigate all reported cases of police brutality in order to bring justice to the victims and also to investigate and clarify the circumstances surrounding the Lekki shooting.
The federal government accused CNN of failing to comply with the panel's summons to prove the allegation of the Lekki toll-gate massacre.
The government has heavily criticized them for maintaining their unproven position on the incident at the Lekki toll booth, which was considered the epicenter of the #EndSARS protest.
According to NAN, the request was made by Information and Culture Minister Alhaji Lai Mohammed at a press conference in which he said the trio should wholeheartedly apologize for portraying the Nigerian army, police, and other security agencies in a bad light.
Nonetheless, This is What the Minister of Information and Culture is saying;
The minister insisted that, contrary to claims made by CNN, Amnesty International, and the disc jockey Switch, the army did not fire at the demonstrators.
Describing what happened that night as a Phantom Massacre, Mohammed said those who spread the massacre story did so with no evidence that people were killed that night.
Mohammed said, “CNN acted unprofessionally, relying on unverified and possibly tampered with social media videos and other open-source information to conclude that there was a massacre at the Lekki toll-gate.
“For its part, CNN counted 38 deaths at first then to two, and finally one after an alleged global exclusivity, even though the network had no journalists on-site at the Lekki toll gate on October 20, 2020.
On Monday, the commission's forensic investigation, which was launched by the Lagos state government after the EndSARS protest ended its sittings.
“CNN was summoned during the session, but she never showed up, missing a great opportunity to prove her allegation of a toll-gate massacre. In its most recent attempt to grab the straws and regain whatever remains of its torn credibility on the matter, CNN continued its baseless report that soldiers shot protesters.
The minister, who said that Amnesty International refused to use a golden opportunity to convince the world and instead issued meaningless press releases, also condemned a recent CNN network report of the alleged massacre, claiming the international news platform did act unprofessionally.
He said: “CNN has shamelessly and outrageously relied on his misrepresentation, relying on an unidentified mother whose son was allegedly shot in Lekki but with no convincing evidence of who shot him.
“The same CNN that tweeted on October 23, 2020, that 38 people were shot in Lekki is now fighting to convince the world that a boy was shot in Lekki. That's a shame.''
He said the federal government took pride in the security agencies for their professionalism and restraint during the protests against EndSARS and the violence that followed, which helped save the lives and property of many people.
It is worth remembering that on October 20, 2020, some #EndSARS protesters protesting police brutality and other human rights violations were reportedly shot dead by the Nigerian army at the Lekki toll-gate, resulting in deaths and various forms of violence, though the military denied shooting protesters.
However, the Lagos State government has set up a judicial panel to investigate all reported cases of police brutality in order to bring justice to the victims and also to investigate and clarify the circumstances surrounding the Lekki shooting.
The federal government accused CNN of failing to comply with the panel's summons to prove the allegation of the Lekki toll-gate massacre.
