Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State Governor, has said that the state government was working with relevant security agencies to bring perpetrators of the Ijegun pipeline fire to justice.
About 10 people died in the fire penultimate Thursday, which resulted from activities of criminals vandalising oil pipelines in the community.
The governor stated this while receiving members of the ad-hoc committee set up by the Senate to investigate the root cause of the inferno.
The seven-member Senate Committee, was led by Ibrahim Gobir, and met with the governor in Alausa on Friday.
Sanwo-Olu hailed President of the Senate for constituting the ad-hoc Committee, following a motion by the Senator representing Lagos West, Solomon Adeola.
The governor said the gesture showed that the entire members of the Senate felt the pain of loss with Lagosians.
According to him, “I convey my best wishes to the leadership of the Senate led by the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, for responding quickly to this very urgent national assignment. I watched the debate on Ijegun fire on the floor of the Senate and I saw how several senators felt the pain we are feeling in Lagos.
“I thank all the senators for showing compassion and the human side of them to assuage the pain we are feeling following the loss of lives. I appreciate members of the ad-hoc committee for coming out swiftly to investigate the root cause of this unfortunate incident.”
According to him, “We are concerned about the damage to lives and property that trailed the incident. We are working with security agencies to put all these criminalities to a stop. We are hopeful that we will identify the perpetrators; whatever level they are, they will be brought to justice.
“Bringing them to justice will serve as deterrent to other criminals who are bent on perpetrating economic sabotage at the expense of innocent people’s lives”.
The governor, however, expressed concern that the issue of pipeline vandalism kept recurring in the state, urging members of the committee not to leave any stone unturned in unraveling the root cause of the crime.
Sanwo-Olu said he recently met with traditional rulers in the state to sensitise them on the need to join hand with the government and security agencies to secure Federal Government’s assets in their localities and also fish out criminals engaging in economic sabotage.
He said he was hopeful that the recommendations of the committee members would bring about lasting solution to the problem.
Responding, Senator Gobir promised that the committee members would ensure thorough investigation into the matter, assuring that the committee’s recommendations would help the Federal Government to take far-reaching approach to tackle vandalism.
Senator representing Lagos West, Olamilekan Adeola, who moved the motion leading to the constitution of the ad-hoc committee, renewed the call for community policing, noting that it would help in checking re-occurring activities of pipeline vandalism.
Iniobong Iwok
