The Federal Government has written a petition to the US-based Cable News Network (CNN), demanding an immediate and exhaustive investigation into its report on the Lekki Tollgate shooting, to determine its authenticity and conformity to basic standards of journalism.

The government berated CNN for its investigative report on the #EndSARS protest in Lekki area of Lagos, pointing out that the media outfit breached the most basic of the core principles of journalism – balance and fairness.

In the petition written by the Minister for Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, to Jonathan Hawkins, VP (Communications) in CNN Centre Atlanta, Georgia; the government said that if the international media organization does not carry out its demand, it will take any action within its laws to prevent CNN from making the #EndSARS crisis worse.

According to a report from Punch, the government’s letter dated November 23, 2020, is titled “Re: How a bloody night of bullets quashed a young protest movement”.

The letter reads: “Our attention has been drawn to an ‘investigation’ by CNN, entitled ‘How a Bloody Night of Bullets Quashed a Young Protest Movement’ and aired on 18 Nov. 2020, in which the international news organization said it uncovered that Nigerian security forces opened fire on unarmed protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, Nigeria, during the #EndSARS protest.”

“We write to put on record that the report did not just fall short of journalistic standards, it reinforces the disinformation that is going around on the issue. It is blatantly irresponsible and it is a poor piece of journalistic work by a reputable international news organization.

“In the first instance, the report did not live up to the most basic of the core principles of journalism – balance and fairness. According to the website www.ethics.journalists.org, balance and fairness are classic buzzwords of journalism ethics: In objective journalism, stories must be balanced in the sense of attempting to present all sides of a story. Fairness means that a journalist should strive for accuracy and truth in reporting, and not slant a story that makes a reader draw the reporter’s desired conclusion.”

What you should know

It can be recalled that CNN in its investigative report broadcasted on November 18, disclosed that the Nigerian army allegedly fired live ammunition directly at unarmed protesters, who peacefully assembled at the Lekki Tollgate during the #EndSARS protests. While confirming some deaths, CNN said it spoke with over 100 protesters and family members, but didn’t speak to any government official.

In response to the Federal Government’s criticism of the report, which it described as a blatantly irresponsible and a poor piece of journalistic work, CNN insisted that it was standing by its report.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NICON Insurance Limited, Mr. Muhammadu Bagudu Hussaini, has advised Insurance firms to maximize certain provisions in the constitution that guarantees their refund after compensating victims of the recent #EndSARS protest, opining that it is possible for the insurance firms to be compensated by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

He made the disclosure during an interview with the Daily Trust, where he decried the high level of losses encountered during the protest and the imminent high claims on insurance firms, which if care is not taken, might affect liquidity in the system.

Mr. Hussaini stated that the government has the machinery to pay the insurance companies without recourse to treasury, but he was quick to point out that it is a dormant machinery.

What they are saying

Elucidating his points, Mr. Hussaini said: “There will be a large volume of claims which the insurance industry would have to pay. I have no doubt about the capacity of the insurance industry to meet its obligations on claims that may arise from the destruction across the country.

“However, two issues would arise because the context of the claims are huge and would come in at the same time. There will be no spread, thus this will impact the finances of the underwriters and may destabilize their finances.

“What happened was as a result of breakdown of law and order. Section 14 (2b) of the Nigerian Constitution vests the duty of guaranteeing security and providing for the welfare of the citizens in the hands of government – the executive precisely. I will look at the damages from the protest as a failure of the government to provide security and welfare for the citizens.

“The section says the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. Thus, insurance companies have a subrogation right – the right to recover from the government their funds after they pay the claims arising from the destruction.

“Therefore, I advise the insurance companies to pay their claims and seek refund on the basis of Section 14 (2b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Video footage from the CCTV camera presented by the Lekki Concession Company (LCC) has shown that several trucks, which allegedly belonged to the Nigerian Army, were seen being deployed to the Lekki Tollgate area of Lagos State on October 20—the day of the shooting incident.

According to Channels Television, this was discovered during the resumed sitting on Saturday, November 21, 2020, of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry set up to probe incidents of police brutality and extra-judicial killings, and the alleged shooting of #EndSARS protesters by the Nigerian army at the Lekki Tollgate.

READ: #EndSARS: There’s a possibility that hoodlums shot Lekki protesters – Malami

The video footage showed that the location was calm until 6.43 pm when some people could be seen running towards the tollgate from the Oriental Hotel as a number of trucks were seen arriving at the Lekki toll gate with flashing headlights.

It also showed that 10 minutes after the arrival of the military vehicles, the lights at the tollgate went off, with one of the vehicles driving through the tollgate to the other side where the crowd of protesters was gathered.

READ: Lekki Shooting: LCC submits CCTV footage, says camera stopped working at 8 pm

However, after about three hours of watching the footage, the counsel to the #EndSARS protesters, Adeshina Ogunlana, who was earlier given access to the video complained that the footage was not the one that should have been played.

In his claims, he pointed out that a particular recording was omitted, explaining that he was given tapes tagged t1 and t1 full.

READ: Lagos State launches N5 billion post-COVID-19 economic recovery support for MSMEs

At the resumed sitting, Justice Doris Okuwobi (rtd), who is the Chairman of the judicial panel, said she was calling up the Lekki Toll company first so that the footage of the happenings around the Lekki Toll Gate would be watched by all parties, including the Nigerian Army.

It can be recalled that the setting up of the Judicial Panel of inquiry was a fallout of the protests by Nigerians against police brutality and extra-judicial killings, with the victims expected to get redress.

READ: Lekki Tollgate Shooting: We were not told about the change of curfew time – Nigerian Army

The panel was also mandated to unravel the circumstances surrounding the Lekki shooting incident and the reported deaths.

The Nigerian army, who initially denied its role in the incident, describing such reports as fake news, later came out to admit that officers had been deployed to the area on the invitation of the Lagos state government after a curfew had been imposed, due to the outbreak of violence and the destruction of public and private assets.