Sequel to the investigative reports by the foreign Cable News Network, CNN, confirming the shooting of peaceful #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki toll plaza, last month, the Federal Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has released a rejoinder insisting that the military only fired “blank ammunition” in the air.
In a press conference Thursday afternoon in Abuja, Lai Mohammed slammed CNN for “irresponsible journalism,” saying that the news network was only desperate “to prove that people were killed at the Lekki toll gate”.
He said, “This is irresponsible journalism for which CNN deserves to be sanctioned. We insist that the military did not shoot at protesters at the Lekki toll gate. They fired blank ammunition in the air.
“Anyone who knows anyone who was killed at lekki toll gate should head at the judicial panel with conclusive evidence of such,” he concluded.
It is worthwhile to note that following the ‘bloody crackdown’ of the protesters by Nigerian armed forces, there has been persistent shifting of blames and denials. Neither the government nor the military has agreed that innocent protesters were ”massacred”.
Resultantly, the reported shooting at the trendy toll gate has ostensibly halted the #EndSARS protest; although there are wide reports of another phase of the protest movement.
Ozoemela Chikwas reporting, Obinwannem News
