{"id":30412,"date":"2020-11-23T19:54:44","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T17:54:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/end-sars-report-nigerian-govt-petitions-cnn-threatens-legal-action"},"modified":"2020-11-23T19:54:44","modified_gmt":"2020-11-23T17:54:44","slug":"end-sars-report-nigerian-govt-petitions-cnn-threatens-legal-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/end-sars-report-nigerian-govt-petitions-cnn-threatens-legal-action","title":{"rendered":"End SARS Report: Nigerian govt petitions CNN, threatens legal action"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Zimbabwe<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>The Federal Government on Monday petitioned the Cable News Network (CNN), demanding \u201can immediate and exhaustive investigation into its report on the Lekki Toll Gate incident to determine its authenticity and conformity to basic standards of journalism.<\/p>\n

In the petition addressed to Mr Jonathan Hawkins VP, Communications, CNN Centre Atlanta, Georgia U.S, the government said if the international media organization failed to carry out its demand, it will \u201ctake any action within its laws\u2019\u2019 to prevent CNN from aggravating the End SARS crisis.<\/p>\n

The petition dated Nov. 23 and personally signed by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.<\/p>\n

The CNN in the \u201cinvestigative\u2019\u2019 report had alleged that it \u201duncovered that Nigerian security forces opened fire on unarmed protesters\u201d at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, during the End SARS protesters.<\/p>\n

The report entitled \u2018How a Bloody Night of Bullets Quashed a Young Protest Movement\u2019 was aired on Nov. 18 by the international news organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is blatantly irresponsible, and it is a poor piece of journalistic work by a reputable international news organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the first instance, the report did not live up to the most basic of the core principles of journalism \u2013 balance and fairness,\u2019\u2019 the Minister wrote in the petition.<\/p>\n

Mohammed said the CNN failed to exhibit the journalism ethic of balance and fairness in the report but slanted the story to favour the reporter\u2019s desired conclusion.<\/p>\n

\u201cRushing to air such a momentous story without presenting the government\u2019s side is inexcusable and indefensible.<\/p>\n

\u201cCNN said it contacted over 100 protesters and family members, but did not speak to one official of Nigeria\u2019s federal government.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile CNN said there was no response from the army and that officials of Lagos State would not speak in view of the Judicial Panel that is investigating the matter, it did not say what effort it made to speak with any official of the federal government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth is that CNN did not even attempt to reach the federal government.<\/p>\n

\u201cNima Elbagir, who presented the report and most probably led the investigation, is conversant with the Minister of Information and Culture, who is also the Spokesman for the Federal Government of Nigeria, yet did not say that she even tried to reach the Minister.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is therefore strange, to say the least, that she would rush to air such an important \u2018investigation\u2019 report without getting the government\u2019s side,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

The Minister said the CNN was not present at the Lekki Toll Gate on the night of the incident but relied heavily on unverified footages it harvested from social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike CNN, a reporter from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Pidgin Service, Damilola Banjo, was at the Lekki Toll Gate on the night in question.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was quoted as saying soldiers shot sporadically into the air and not at the protesters \u2013 a direct contradiction of the position taken by CNN who relied on second and third-hand information,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. The Federal Government on Monday petitioned the Cable News Network (CNN), demanding \u201can immediate and exhaustive investigation into its report on the Lekki Toll Gate incident to determine its authenticity and conformity to basic standards of journalism. In the petition addressed to Mr Jonathan Hawkins VP, Communications, CNN Centre Atlanta, Georgia U.S, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":30411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,35,10,15],"tags":[1493,1605,1604,19],"class_list":["post-30412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-parties","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-cnn","tag-end-sars-report","tag-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"\nEnd SARS Report: Nigerian govt petitions CNN, threatens legal action - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/end-sars-report-nigerian-govt-petitions-cnn-threatens-legal-action\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"End SARS Report: Nigerian govt petitions CNN, threatens legal action\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. The Federal Government on Monday petitioned the Cable News Network (CNN), demanding \u201can immediate and exhaustive investigation into its report on the Lekki Toll Gate incident to determine its authenticity and conformity to basic standards of journalism. 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