LEKKI SHOOTING: 15 sins of CNN, by Lai Mohammed

 

The Federal Government has accused US Cable News Network, CNN, of 15 grave journalistic offences in its coverage of the reported shooting at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a petition addressed to Vice-President, Communications of CNN, Mr. Jonathan Hawkins, titled “How a Bloody Night of Bullets Quashed a Young Protest Movement,” said the report did not live up to the most basic of the core principles of journalism — balance and fairness.

He also claimed that CNN relied heavily on unverified footages it harvested from social media, adding that its reporters and cameramen were not present at the Lekki Toll Gate on the night of the incident.

The petition, dated November 23, 2020, reads:

…”Our attention has been drawn to an ‘investigation’ by CNN, entitled ‘How a Bloody Night of Bullets Quashed a Young Protest Movement’ and aired on 18 November 2020, in which the international news organization said it had “uncovered that Nigerian security forces opened fire on unarmed protesters” at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, Nigeria, during the #EndSARS protest.

Report fell short of journalistic standards’

…We write to put on record that the report did not just fall short of journalistic standards, it reinforces the disinformation that is going around on the issue, it is blatantly irresponsible and it is a poor piece of journalistic work by a reputable international news organization.

CNN made no contact with FG

…”The truth is that CNN did not even attempt to reach the Federal Government. Nima Elbagir, who presented the report and most probably led the investigation, is conversant with the Minister of Information and Culture, who is also the Spokesman for the Federal Government of Nigeria, yet did not say that she even tried to reach the Minister.

CNN relied heavily on unverified footages harvested from social media

…”Another serious breach by CNN, in its ‘investigation’, is that the network relied heavily on unverified footages it harvested from social media. CNN was not present at the Lekki Toll Gate on the night of the incident.

BBC’s account contradicts CNN’s

“Unlike CNN, a reporter from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Pidgin Service, Damilola Banjo, was at the Lekki Toll Gate on the night in question, and was quoted as saying soldiers shot sporadically into the air and not at the protesters — a direct contradiction of the position taken by CNN who relied on second and third-hand information.

DJ Switch’s ever changing stories

“From claiming she counted 78 bodies of protesters who were supposedly killed by soldiers on the night of the Lekki Toll Gate incident, she has twice, at least, changed the casualty figure from 78 to 15 and then to 7, without a shred of evidence.

No video or photos of dead bodies.

Curiously, for someone who was streaming live on Instagram during the Lekki Toll Gate incident, there was not a single video or picture of the dead bodies.

Manipulating viewers

…”It is shocking that all through its investigation’, CNN did not for once mention the fact that six soldiers and 37 policemen were killed during the #End SARS crisis, which also left 196 policemen injured, not to talk of the monumental destruction of government and private properties across the country

FG’s next move

…”As a form of remediation, Nigeria’s Federal Government demands an immediate and exhaustive investigation from CNN into its ‘investigative’ report on the Lekki Toll Gate incident to determine, among others, its authenticity, whether or not it met the basic standards of journalism and also the selective use of unverified social media videos to manipulate public opinion.

“While it is up to CNN to accede or not, please note that the Federal Government reserves the right to take any action within its laws to prevent CNN from aggravating the #EndSARS crisis with unprofessional, irresponsible, one-sided, inciting and sensational reporting that is capable of pitching Nigerians against themselves and setting the country on fire.”