BEVERLY HILLS, November 26, (THEWILL) – CNN Thursday admitted it misreported the death toll at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos, a significant U-turn in its reporting of Nigerian soldiers and police shooting of defiant #ENDSARS protesters at the toll plaza on the night of October 20, 2020.
The international cable network had irresponsibly suggested a massacre occurred without any reasonable evidence when it claimed that at least 38 persons were killed when soldiers shot some peaceful protesters at the toll.
However, almost five weeks after its first reporting on the incident, the network in a tweet walked back the claim following pressures from the Nigerian government as well as some Nigerians in reaction to the two-part investigative report it aired on the incident this week.
THEWILL’s extensive, elaborate checks and interviews of people at the toll that night, put the death toll at not more than three (3) with over 50 wounded from the shooting and stampede that followed.
The CNN “Clarification” was however greeted with uproar on Twitter by some Nigerians with at least two users alleging the network intended to incite citizens into a war with its inaccurate reporting of the incident.
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