Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has accused international media outfit, CNN of spreading fake news with its reports on the Lekki tollgate shooting.
It accused CNN of relying on fake social media sources as well as doctored videos to compile both its first and second reports on the Lekki tollgate incident during the #EndSARS protest.
The Minister said this on Wednesday when he appeared on NTA where he was asked about his views on the second report by CNN on the Lekki tollgate happenings.
Mohammed said, “It shows that they (CNN) are desperate. The so-called recent development has been seen before. There is nothing new. If there is anything new, it is a contradiction of CNN’s position.
“What we are asking CNN is that where is your evidence? The military has been consistent. CNN contravenes the basic principles of journalism – fairness, and balance.
‘They did the story without contacting the Federal Government for its own side. They relied on second and third parties narratives.
“They (CNN) were caught spreading fake news and they are trying to escape.
“We are accusing them (CNN) of basing their stories on videos sourced on social media. CNN has been inconsistent. It also doctored the video it got.
“We are confident in our position.”
It will be recalled the CNN on Tuesday, released a second report titled, ‘Analysis of CCTV footage from Lekki toll gate raises new questions about shooting.’
This comes after its first investigative report on the Lekki toll gate incident which was rubbished by the federal government of Nigeria as ‘irresponsible journalism.’
On the petition against CNN by the federal government, Mohammed noted that they have received a response to the letter addressed to Jonathan Hawkins, VP (Communications), CNN Centre, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, over the station’s report on the Lekki toll gate shooting during the #EndSARS protest.
“We have received an acknowledgment and we were told that the letter has been passed to the editorial team,” the Minister said.
source https://www.naijanews.com/2020/11/25/endsars-nothing-new-in-second-report-by-cnn-its-all-fake-news-lai-mohammed/
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