Lai Mohammed, the Minister for Information and Culture, insisted that the military did not fire live ammunition at the protestors at the Lekki Tollgate during the October 20th Protests. Lai was speaking to the media at Abuja on Thursday. Soldiers reportedly killed 12 people and leaving many injured on the 20th of October.
“We insist that the military did not shoot at protesters at the Lekki Tollgate. They fired blank ammunition in the air. Again, anyone who knows anyone who was killed at the Lekki toll gate should head to the judicial panel with conclusive evidence of such,” he said.
What happened at Lekki?
The Lekki Tollgate incident had caused a lot of social media uproar in late October 2020. Military men allegedly shot at unarmed #EndSARS protestors in a video that circulated online. DJ Switch, who was present during the chaos narrated the entire ordeal in a video she released online.
“Yes, there were soldiers there. Another part that people are not really talking about. The police also came, the SARS people we’re talking about also came minutes after the soldiers left. They were tear-gassing. It’s like Cotonou pepper. Our coconut head generation. They will run and they will come back.” She added.“
They switched off the lights and it was pitch black. While the soldiers were running around and picking their shells, we were running around and picking their shelves too. The police and SARS were also there, aiming and shooting. Who takes life bullets to a protest? Who does that?
CNN Report
According to a CNN publication on Wednesday, verified video footage shows soldiers who appear to be shooting in the direction of the protestors. CNN has examined bullet casings found at the scene and confirmed with current and former Nigerian military sources that the bullet casings match those used by the army. Two ballistic experts have also confirmed to CNN that the shape of the bullet casings indicate they used live rounds, which contradict the army claims that they fired blanks.
Nigerian Minister dismisses the CNN Report
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, termed the CNN report as a poor piece of journalistic work.’
“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.” He added, “CNN engaged in incredible sensationalism and did a great disservice to itself and to journalism. In the first instance, CNN, which touted its report as an exclusive investigative report, sadly relied on the same videos that have been circulating on social media, without verification.”
He went on further to state, “Is this one-sided reporting what is expected from an international media organization or any serious news organization? If CNN had done its investigation properly, it would have known how fake news and disinformation were trending during the EndSARS crisis.”
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