Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said that American TV CNN has been caught in the web of fake news and is thus trying to escape.
Mohammed is referring to CNN’s airing of a second video on the violence that #ENDSARS protesters suffered in Lekki, Lagos, with the TV station proving that soldiers opened live bullets on the agitators.
In an interview on NTA on Wednesday, while noting that CNN had acknowledged a petition the Federal Government wrote against it, Mohammed said:
“It shows that they (CNN) are desperate. The so-called recent development has been seen before. There is nothing new. If there is anything new, it is a contradiction of CNN’s position.
“What we are asking CNN is that where is your evidence? The military has been consistent. CNN contravenes the basic principles of journalism – fairness, and balance.
“They did the story without contacting the Federal Government for its own side. They relied on second and third parties narratives.
“They (CNN) were caught spreading fake news and they are trying to escape.
“We are accusing them (CNN) of basing their stories on videos sourced on social media. CNN has been inconsistent. It also doctored the video it got.
“We are confident in our position.
“We have received an acknowledgment and we were told that the letter has been passed to the editorial team.”
