Ayodele Olalere
Governors from the South West geopolitical zone, on Sunday, paid a solidarity visit to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State following the destruction caused in the state by some hoodlums in the wake of EndSARS protest.
Among the visiting governors are Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi, Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, and Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akeredolu.
On the Federal government delegation were Minister of Trade, Industrial and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Youths and Sports, Sunday Dare, Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Solid Minerals, Adegbite.
Some of the places visited were the burnt High Court building, the NPA building, Lekki Toll gate, the Lagos Forensics Centre, among others.
Mr. Akeredolu, who spoke on behalf of the visiting governors condemned the attacks on government’s properties, as well as loss of lives, adding “Lagos was turned into war zone.”
“What has led to this is what we can not fathom. Is it the spread of fake news and videos? We want to use this opportunity to commiserate with families of victims and slain policemen. We want to note the pain and sadness across our society coming at the heels of vast destruction to the state and notable individual. We commiserate with the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu on the sacrilege committed at his palace as well as attack on Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu on places he has business.
For us, the vile manipulation by people trying to destroy South West must be condemned. We call on heads of security to be alive to their responsibility and investigate the incident and bring perpetrators to book,” Akeredolu said.
He also condemned the silence of the military on the Lekki shooting and commended Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for the manner he handled the situation.
“There have been definite silence from the military. Our anxiety is heightened when our brother, Governor Sanwo-Olu made it clear he did not order the shooting. We want to enjoin our youths to rise up to defend our lands. Government properties are ours. What do we stand to gain destroying ourselves? We can not continue to watch our heritage destroyed. We must engage constructively. Let our people calm down.
We commend Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for the manner he handled the situation. We are proud of you,” he further said.
Concerning the viral video by one Adebayo Godson suggesting the attacks we’re carried out by the Igbo, Governor Akeredolu urged Lagosians to disregard the video, adding “it does not represent what Yoruba stands for.”
“We call on our Igbo brothers to go about their normal business. We will not allow wanton destruction of lives and properties within the whole of Southwest. We want to appeal to our youths to suspend EndSars protest.”
Speaking for the Federal government representatives, Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola expressed sadness at the amount of destruction, adding they were in the state on the order of President Muhammadu Buhari to assess damages as well as commiserate with the state government.
” We are here to express our deepest solidarity to the governor and people of Lagos State on behalf of the Federal government. We commend the governor for what he and his team had done. We hope this visit will douse tension. The investigation would help to unrivalled how we got here. We urge peace, we urge calm. Nigeria from all walks of life should feel free to come and do business in South West. We have seen the attacks on various government buildings. Words cannot describe the extent of the damage we have seen. We are sure all will be well. It’s possible some people are trying to set us up against each other. We should not let that happen,” he warned.
