Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said that CNN nor any foreign media “will change negatively the government’s narrative”, during a press briefing at the Alausa’s Government House on Tuesday, addressing the protest in the state.
The protest, which demanded an end to police brutality and SARS, was rooted in a report released in October 2020 by the media network that hinted at the shooting by the Nigerian Army towards peaceful protesters at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos.
However, the report was discredited by the country’s federal government. The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, claimed CNN was desperate and releasing fake news.
The report gained the public’s attention again as it was recently re-released by the Lagos #EndSARS Panel, as a means to investigate the killing at the Lekki Tollage, and other cases of police brutality. As the report revealed, the Nigerian Army and police did fire live bullets.
At the press conference, Sanwo-Olu also mentioned “a walk for peace” next month as an attempt to establish reconciliation.
“Let me use this occasion to extend an open invitation to our youths, members of the diplomatic corps, civil society groups, students, and the media as well as other stakeholders to join me,” the governor said.
The idea, however, received scorn from the public. Folarin Falana (Falz), a Nigerian entertainer, described it as “disrespectful” and “a joke”. Meanwhile, Debo Adebayo, another entertainer, thinks reconciliation attempts should start with the implementation of the judicial panel’s report.
