Lekki shootings: ‘We stand by our report’ - CNN replies FG

International Cable News Network, CNN, said its report on the alleged shooting of #EndSARS protesters by soldiers at the Lekki toll plaza on October 20, 2020, was “carefully and meticulously researched”.

CNN stated this in a report on Thursday in response to comments by the Nigerian Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, that the news platform practised “irresponsible journalism” by relying on fake videos sourced from social media to produce its report.

CNN had published an investigative report this week claiming soldiers fired live ammunition directly at protesters at the Lekki toll gate, a claim which Mohammed denied on Thursday.

“Like everyone else, I watched the CNN report. I must tell you that it reinforces the disinformation that is going around, and it is blatantly irresponsible and a poor piece of journalistic work by a reputable international news organization,” Mohammed told reporters at a press conference in Abuja today.

“This is very serious and CNN should be sanctioned for that,” he added.

The PUNCH reports that the minister also 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.

Reacting today in another story titled, ‘Nigeria threatens CNN with sanctions but provides no evidence Lekki toll gate investigation is inaccurate’, the cable news network said it stand by its earlier report on the Lekki incident.

“Our reporting was carefully and meticulously researched, and we stand by it,” CNN stated.