Senators from the southwest geo-political zone, on Tuesday, submitted that the level of destruction carried out in Lagos by hoodlums who hijacked the #EndSARS protest, was beyond the capacity of the Lagos State alone to fix.
The lawmakers said they would be making a case at the National Assembly for the Federal Government to assist Lagos in rebuilding the nation’s commercial capital.
The stated this when a delegation of the senators, led by Ajayi Boroffice, visited Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at State House, Marina, to commiserate with him on last week’s massive destruction of public and private properties in Lagos.
Boroffice, who represents Ondo North, described the destruction as “orchestrated tragedy” that must be thoroughly investigated. He wondered why the youth protest was prolonged and allowed to degenerate to violence when the Federal Government had agreed to the five-point demands of the protesters. The lawmaker expressed worry that many youths working in the businesses that were destroyed would be rendered jobless, adding that it would take time for the owners of the businesses to recover, given the extent of loss.
“Members of the Southwest caucus in the senate are here to console you over the demonic violence unleashed on Lagos. Government and private individuals suffered incalculable loss in the unfortunate destruction that trailed the EndSARS protest. No Nigerian is against peaceful protest, but demonstration that does not have a leadership will encourage hoodlums to hijack and wreak havoc.
“Adequate decision had been taken by the government to attend to the demands of the protesters. Of course, some of the demands require constitutional amendment and cannot be done immediately. The senate showed its readiness to look into the issues with the necessary amendments. So, it was unnecessary for the protest to be prolonged to the point of being hijacked by those with violent agenda.”
Boroffice said the burden occasioned by the destruction could not be borne by the Lagos State government alone, stressing that the Southwest senate caucus would be meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly to prevail on the Federal Government in assisting the state to recover and rebuild.
The lawmaker said the caucus would move a motion that would enable the ministry of foreign affairs to catalogue the ugly images from the destruction and send to Nigerian embassies overseas for those in the diaspora to see proportion of damage wreaked.
“We are concerned about the gravity of the damage on public properties in Lagos and other places across the country. We will be moving a motion in the Senate to urge the Federal Government to come with assistance to Lagos State, because the burden of the destruction is too much for Lagos to bear alone.”
Sanwo-Olu thanked the lawmakers for showing solidarity, saying that law-abiding residents had suffered from the violence and borne the brunt in harsh way.
The governor expressed concern that some Lagos communities were now vulnerable to crimes, following the arsonist attacks on police stations and facilities housing security operatives.
He, again, condemned the shooting of protesters at the Lekki Tollgate by soldiers, insisting that until after a thorough investigation, no one would know how many lives were lost in the incident as against misinformation spread in the social media, which gave conflicting figure of deaths.
Sanwo-Olu said the two bodies found on the roads on Admiralty Road and Victoria Island had no link with Lekki shooting, adding that most of those who were injured in the incident had been treated and discharged.
