Lekki Tollgate Shooting: We stand by our report, CNN dares Lai Mohammed

Hours after the federal government dismissed its investigative report on the October 20 shooting incident at the Lekki tollgate as “irresponsible journalism”, the Cable News Network, CNN says it stands by its report.

The international media outfit had repeatedly aired its investigation into the shooting incident on its network on Wednesday and Thursday and in the process attracted the anger of the Federal government.

At a press conference in Abuja, Thursday, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the report by the media house was one-sided and lacked balance calling for the sanction of the CNN.

Government also denied the reported shooting of hapless protesters at the tollgate.

Reacting to the press briefing by the minister, the CNN made it clear that its investigation was highly professional and as such had no reason not to stand by it.

“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.”