Cable News Network has replied the Nigerian Government on its news report, which indicted the Nigerian Army of alleged human rights abuse over the shooting of protesters at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos during the #EndSARS protest.
The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Burtai, both denied the CNN report that live bullets were fired at the protesters by soldiers.
Mohammed, who spoke on Thursday in Abuja, said the Federal Government was going to call for a sanction of the CNN.
But replying to the denial of its report, CNN said in a statement on Thursday, hours after Mohammed addressed newsmen in Abuja: “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.”