By BASHIR ADEFAKA
The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has described the CNN report on the October 20 Lekki shooting as “a brilliant piece of gutter journalism, unprofessional, skewed, and set to a pre-determined but evil end”.
In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke and sent to The DEFENDER on Friday, the group said the American news network had a single-minded mission to paint the Nigerian authorities bad in that report.
“Having watched the so-called investigative report on the October 20 incident at the Lekki toll plaza, we cannot but come to the conclusion that CNN had no intention to present an unbiased report to its global audience.
“This perhaps explains why it was a one-sided feature report that failed to take into account either the side of the army which was accused of using live rounds or the government which it surreptitiously blamed for allegedly killing protesters.
“Just like many Nigerians have observed, CNN had no reporter on ground at the toll plaza on the day but relied heavily on the same viral videos that have been circulating on social media; and to worsen its case CNN interviewed only those who claimed to be “eyewitnesses”.
“We also find it strange that though the news outlet alluded to the ongoing judicial panel in passing, it did not consider it important to report the presentation by the army authorities on the use of blank bullets or the explanation on what would have happened if soldiers had indeed used live rounds on the crowd of protesters.
“This is sheer malafide, malice aforethought and despicable gutter journalism”, the group said, noting that there are enough indices to show that CNN relied on fake news in a bid to prove that soldiers shot at protesters at the toll plaza.
“Even before the controversial piece, the news outlet had on October 23 emphatically tweeted that ’38 were killed in Nigeria on Tuesday when the military opened fire on peaceful protesters’ without any evidence, and this was three days after the alleged shooting.
