Amid threats of sanction from the Federal Government over its investigative report on the shootings at Lekki toll plaza during the #EndSARS protests, CNN on Tuesday released a second report on the incident.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, had last week described CNN’s report on the Lekki shootings as poor journalism, adding that the network deserved to be sanctioned.
Mohammed also followed up the threat with a letter addressed to the management of CNN in Atlanta on Monday.
However, the network on Tuesday did a second report with more damning footage showing soldiers shooting at unarmed protesters.
The video, which had been played before the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry, was not released to the public despite Freedom of Information requests sent to the state government.
However, CNN, in its second report titled, ‘Analysis of CCTV footage from Lekki toll gate raises new questions about shooting’, stated that it had obtained the video and subsequently analysed its content.
CNN also compared the CCTV footage with some of the videos on social media which the National Broadcasting Commission had sanctioned three local television stations for using and concluded that the authorities had more questions to answer.
The fresh report also shows the Commander, 81 Division, Brig.Gen Ahmed Taiwo, admitting before the judicial panel that his men indeed took live ammunition to the tollgate.
The CNN report also highlights the fact that Brig.Gen Taiwo’s claim is at variance with that of the minister who had claimed last week that the army fired blank bullets.
The Federal Government has been receiving flak from members of the United Kingdom Parliament and Amnesty International over the killing of protesters.
The UK Parliament had called for sanctions against state officials for freezing the accounts of #EndSARS protesters, intimidating them and for other human rights abuses.
Meanwhile, Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed Thursday to hear a motion to set aside an ex parte order freezing the accounts of #EndSARS campaigners.
