By Banji Ayoola
Contrary to general belief, there were no mass killings at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos in the wake of the #EndSARS protests, Nigeria insisted on Thursday.
It spoke through the Information and Culture minister, Lai Mohammed, at a press conference in Abuja, where it faulted the CNN report which has gone viral, and is still trending on the internet.
The belief of mass killing of the #EndSARS protesters was strengthened on Wednesday with the release of an exclusive report by the American cable television network, which gave graphic details of how some protesters it claimed were felled allegedly by bullets fired by soldiers deployed by the Nigerian Army to crush the protests which began on a peaceful note, but were later hijacked by hoodlums.
It even unveiled the identities of those it claimed were fired, illustrated with photographs.
The popular protests against serial cases of brutality, undue exploitation and extortion of the citizens who look unto government full of hope for their protection, by a notorious unit of the Nigeria Police Force against the citizens, SARS, had rocked major cities across the country until the ugly Lekki incident.
To the Federal Government, those who alleged massacre at the Lekki toll gate on the day of the incident only succeeded in misleading the world.
Categorically, Mohammed said that while government awaits the outcome of the panel investigating the matter, “we can say that the world has just witnessed a massacre without bodies” in Lekki.
Insisting that the military did not shoot at protesters at the toll gate as widely believed and as claimed by the disputed report, the minister asked anyone who has contrary proofs to make them available to the panel investigating the matter.
He declared that government is satisfied with the way security agencies handled the protests, describing the CNN report on the incident as “blatantly irresponsible.”
Mohammed went further in hitting the foreign media outfit by calling for a sanction against it.
Declaring that the CNN goofed with its report on the “massacre without bodies,” he said emphatically that there was no massacre of demonstrators during the #EndSARS protest in Lekki in Lagos.
He added that what is being portrayed so far was “social media massacre” or a “hoax massacre,” a case of massacre without bodies, and asked the international community not to be misled by posts on social media to impose sanctions on Nigeria.
Condemning the CNN report on the #EndSARS protest in Lekki as “irresponsible journalism,” Mohammed said CNN relied on unverified and doctored videos in its report.
He said that government would go ahead to regulate the social media in the country as the social media was used to guide arsonists and looters to certain properties.
On the conduct of the military and other security agencies during the #EndSARS protests, he said that soldiers and policemen deserve commendation for their roles during the protest.
In his words: “While we await the Judicial Panel in Lagos to unravel what transpired at the Lekki Toll Gate, what we can say, based on testimonies available in the public space, is that the world may have just witnessed, for the very first time ever, a MASSACRE WITHOUT BODIES! Some have tagged it ‘social media massacre.’
“The testimony of Brig.-Gen, Ahmed Ibrahim Taiwo of the Nigerian Army before the Panel was compelling, and I am sure many of you have listened to or watched it.”
The highlights, for those who may not have watched the testimony, are:– Soldiers were deployed all over Lagos, including Lekki Toll Gate, after the other security agencies were overwhelmed on October 20th 2020, upon the request of the state government.
Before deployment, the soldiers were briefed on the Rules of Engagement, which they adhered to all through.
Soldiers at Lekki Toll Gate fired blank ammunitions into the air. Blank ammunition cannot do any damage to the flesh, not to talk of killing anyone.
Firing live ammunition into the crowd, as some have alleged, would have led to mass killing, which never happened.
Mohammed asked countries that had made hasty judgment on the #EndSARS protest to seek the truth, noting that it is regretful that some people and the international community have been calling for sanctions against Nigeria.
His words: “Sadly, the purveyors of fake news and disinformation succeeded in deceiving the world that indeed there was mass killing in Lekki, even when, till date, not a single body has been produced and not a single family or relative has come out to say their child or ward was killed at Lekki.
“More surprising and irresponsible is the fact that some people have been calling for sanctions against Nigeria or against Nigerian government officials on the basis of a hoax. This is one of the dangers of fake news and disinformation.
“Once fake news is out, many run with it, without looking back, even when the truth is eventually revealed. We therefore want to use this opportunity to ask those who have alleged massacre at the Lekki Toll Gate to go to the Judicial Panel to present their evidence(s) to the world or simply admit that they have goofed.”
He insisted that the Federal Government will go ahead with the regulation of social media, saying: “This development has reinforced the campaign against fake news and disinformation, which we launched in 2018.
“As a matter of fact, as far back as 2017, when we dedicated that year’s National Council on Information to the issue of fake news and disinformation, we had been expressing concerns on the dangers posed by irresponsible use of the new media platform.
“The concerns culminated in the launch of the national campaign which I referred to earlier.
“The social media was used to guide arsonists and looters to certain properties, both public and private. Pictures of persons, including some celebrities, who were supposedly killed at the Lekki Toll Gate by soldiers, were circulated widely, only for those persons to refute such claims or for the discerning to disprove such posts.
“As we have said many times, no responsible government will stand by and allow such abuse of social media to continue.
“The fake news/disinformation purveyors have latched on to our concerns to allege that the Federal Government is planning to shut down social media. No, we have no plans to shut down the social media.
“What we have always advocated, and what we will do, is to regulate the social media. Nigeria is not alone in this regard. The issue of social media regulation is an ongoing debate not just in Nigeria but around the world, including in the United States, which is the flag flyer of constitutional democracy.
“Even the owners of the various social media platforms, including Facebook, are increasingly joining the call for content regulation.
“Some respected opinion leaders have been playing to the gallery on the issue of social media regulation by making inciting and incendiary statements, while some other individuals and groups have been threatening fire and brimstone over the issue of social media regulation.
“What they have failed to understand is that the only reason we are even able to have this debate is because we have a country.
“If we allow the abuse of social media to precipitate uncontrolled internecine violence, the kind of which was narrowly averted during the EndSARS crisis, no one will remember or be able to use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc, for whatever purpose.
“It is incumbent upon us all, therefore, to strike a balance between free speech – which this Administration is committed to upholding – and fake news/disinformation, which it is determined to fight.”
