Lai Mohammed, Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, says both local and international media have not been able to establish that the military raid on protesters at Lekki Toll Plaza on October 20, 2020 was a massacre.

On October 20, Nigerians in Lagos, like others nationwide, protested against police brutality but were dispersed by indiscriminate shootings from soldiers invited by Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the state governor. 

Many died and several others were injured but the Nigerian government has not been able to validate an actual figure of casualties so far. 

FIJ, however, made a 10-week long investigation to unearth the casualties amidst widespread controversies and denials.

The three-part running report established that the Lekki shooting indeed escalated into a massacre, with FIJ tracking 20 persons and concluding that the total figure was higher. Several independent sources, eyewitnesses and families of victims exclusively spoke with FIJ despite obvious threats from ‘higher authorities’.

But the minister shunned these findings whilst he spoke on TVC on ‘This Morning’.

“As we speak today, nobody has come forward to produce evidence of those that were killed at Lekki Toll Gate,” he said.

“If anybody has information, such a person should come forward. We were transparent enough to allow the enquiries to be televised live. There is no cover-up.”

In November, CNN had also published a similar report to establish the deaths of many but Mohammed took waged a war of words against the international newspaper, tagging their report “fake news” and threatening sanctions.

“The matter is not over yet. You cannot, as a credible media, be dispensing fake news, relying on unverified social media reports,” the Minister briefly said, further discrediting the CNN report.

In the latest update from the panel, the Army pulled out of the probe.