Lekki Toll Gate ‘massacre’ report fake news, Lai Mohammed insists

File Photo: Lai Mohammed

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A former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has again dismissed claims of a “massacre” at the Lekki Toll Gate during the 2020 EndSARS protests, insisting the narrative was driven by fake news and unverified reports amplified on social media.

Mohammed said this during an interview on ARISE News on Wednesday while speaking about his new book, Headlines and Soundbites: Media Moments That Defined an Administration.

According to him, one of the major crises of his tenure was battling misinformation, especially during EndSARS.

“EndSARS was unfortunate, it was tragic, but that there was a massacre at the tollgate is fake news,” he said.

He insisted that no family has come forward in five years to report a missing relative linked to the Lekki protest.

“If a man has a goat and the goat does not come home one night, he will go out and look for that goat. Now, five years on today, nobody has come to tell us that my son or my ward went to the tollgate and didn’t come back,” he added.

Mohammed said CNN’s reporting on the incident was based on “second-hand information,” adding that he stands by the criticism he issued at the time.

“Nobody ever said nobody died during the EndSARS. People died even in Abuja. They died in Lagos. They died in Kano. But what we were saying is that CNN was not at the tollgate. CNN relied on second-hand thought and information,” he stated.

The former minister said the Buhari administration believed unregulated social media had become a national threat and frequently fueled misinformation.

“One of the jobs of a communicator, one of the biggest challenges, is how do you prevent fake news and misinformation from overshadowing the real facts?” he asked.

Mohammed defended the 2021 suspension of Twitter, describing it as a difficult but necessary step to curb harmful content.

The Lekki Toll Gate incident occurred on October 20, 2020, during the nationwide EndSARS protests against police brutality in Nigeria.

Protesters had gathered peacefully at the toll gate in Lagos when security forces reportedly opened fire, resulting in casualties and widespread panic.

While official accounts and independent investigations have differed on the number of deaths, the event became a major flashpoint, sparking national and international debate over police conduct, human rights, and government transparency.

Okiki is a journalist with over seven years experience covering politics, foreign news, society, entertainment and the film industry.

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