Why CNN was wrong on Lekki protest – Coalition

The Coalition of Civil Society for Human Rights and Good Governance Africa (CCSHRGGA) has condemned a report by the Cable News Network (CNN) alleging massacre of #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos on October 20, 2020.

The Coalition described the report as repulsive and a concocted piece of falsehood by an otherwise reputable international cable network.

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The organization, in a statement jointly signed by Prof. Bankole Amuda, Prof. Uzodima Anakwe, Balarabe Hassan Ningi, and Barrister Grace Osaze and made available to journalists yesterday in Abuja, said that the position of the Nigerian Army that no protester was killed on the said day, as only blank ammunition was used by soldiers to restore normalcy, was the truth.

While warning CNN and others against deliberate attempts to undermine Nigeria’s sovereignty, the coalition urged the federal government to remain firm and apply the full weight of the law against local and foreign saboteurs undermining the sovereignty of the country.

Wondering what was the motive behind the fake report, the CSO expressed confidence that Nigerians of good conscience will see the report as a fake news that it was.

“As a responsible group, we have been following proceedings at the Lagos State Judicial Commission of Inquiry, and we can say authoritatively that no family has yet to come forward with evidence of death of loved ones.

“We are, therefore, at a loss as to CNN’s obsession with ‘massacre’, even when respectable authorities like the military etc, have come out to say the contrary,” they said.