New Telegraph

Massacre at Lekki Tollgate never happened, FG insists

The Federal Government has restated its claim that the much-publicised massacre of unarmed protesters at the Lekki Tollgate, Lagos, last year was contrived by some people to give Nigeria a bad image. Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, reaffirmed the position of the government yesterday at a news conference to mark the first anniversary of the incident in Abuja.

Mohammed, who described the incident as a “phantom massacre”, said it was the culmination of a peaceful protest later hijacked by hoodlums. He said the reported massacre was the first massacre in the world without blood or bodies, adding that one year after the incident there has been no evidence to show that people lost their lives on that fateful night as a result of the shooting that took place at the tollgate.

The minister said, “One year later, and despite ample opportunities for the families of those allegedly killed and those alleging a massacre to present evidence, there has been none: No bodies, no families, no convincing evidence, nothing. Where are the families of those who were reportedly killed at the toll gate? Did they show up at the Judicial Panel of Inquiry? If not, why? “Sadly, the champions of a massacre at the Lekki Tollgate, including Amnesty International and CNN, have continued to shamelessly hold on to their unproven stand.”

He lamented that after bandying different casualty figures, Amnesty International finally settled for about 12 people killed, while CNN went from 38 people killed to one. “On Monday, the Judicial Panel of Inquiry that was set up by the Lagos State Government after the EndSARS protest wrapped up its sitting,” Mohammed said. “During the sitting, CNN was summoned but it never showed up, thus missing a great opportunity to prove its allegation of massacre at the tollgate.”

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