TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday, condemned foreign press coverage of the violence that followed the #EndSARS protests.

Nigerians had taken to the streets in October 2020 to demonstrate against police brutality under the #EndSARS campaign.

However, the protests — which began peacefully — turned violent as hoodlums hijacked the demonstrations and attacked government and private properties, leading to the death of several persons, including security operatives.

During the demonstrations, soldiers had stormed the Lekki tollgate where protesters had gathered on October 20, and started shooting in what appeared to be an attempt to disperse the activists.

The Lekki incident generated widespread criticism within and outside Nigeria.

CNN had earlier tweeted that “at least 38 people were killed” in connection to the October 20 protests, but later clarified that the figure was from Amnesty International.

The federal government had threatened to sanction CNN, with Lai Mohammed, minister of information, stating that media coverage of the protests ignored the attacks on security operatives.

Mohammed also said 100 persons, including 43 security operatives, lost their lives during the #EndSARS crisis.

Meanwhile, Buhari, who cited CNN and BBC in particular, claimed that reports by foreign media organisations on the #EndSARS crisis were not balanced.

“It must be said that foreign press coverage of the ENDSARS violence was not balanced, especially from CNN and BBC,” Buhari wrote in a post on Twitter.

“I was disgusted by the coverage, which did not give attention to the policemen that were killed, the stations that were burnt, and prisons that were opened.”

It must be said that foreign press coverage of the ENDSARS violence was not balanced, especially from CNN and BBC. I was disgusted by the coverage, which did not give attention to the policemen that were killed, the stations that were burnt, and prisons that were opened.

— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) December 9, 2020