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As looting, arson continues in states
The Lagos State governor on Friday warned hoodlums to desist from further destroying and setting fire to public and private properties in the state. He said, “enough is enough.”
Ogun and Kwara state governments also raised the alarm on Friday over plans by hoodlums to vandalise government facilities across the states. The two states in separate releases noted that the hoodlums planned to attack public and private warehouses including storages, commercial premises, public buildings and private businesses.
Sanwo-Olu said during his visit to 27 of the properties that had been vandalised and burnt by the hoodlums left him traumatised, noting that what he saw during the visit was the highest level of wanton destruction as if it was a war zone.
Hoodlums and arsonists began vandalising properties in different parts of Lagos State on Wednesday morning after soldiers killed innocent protesters at the Lekki toll plaza on Tuesday night while enforcing the 24-hour curfew earlier imposed by the state government.
The state government on Tuesday imposed the curfew following the violence unleashed by hoodlums trying to hijack the peaceful demonstration by EndSARS protesters.
The properties destroyed included BRT buses, Nigerian Ports Authority building at Marina, Federal Road Safety Commission and Vehicle Inspection Office in Ojodu, Toll Plazas at Lekki and Ikoyi Link Bridge and Television Continental station, while many others, like the office of The Nation newspaper, were looted.
Meanwhile, Sanwo-Olu during a live broadcast on Friday, said, “I was moved to tears when I saw our oldest court in Nigeria (Igbosere), my heart bled. I was asking myself how did we get here? The level of destruction and pain that we have been subjected to is a lot.
“I want to use this opportunity again to appeal (to the people). This was not the Lagos handed over to me on May 29, 2019. I’m the 15th governor of this state since 1967. I’m not sure we have witnessed anything close to this before.
“It certainly would not be under my watch that we would lose the city that has the largest population in Africa and largest economy in the whole of the black race. I want to say that indeed, enough is enough.”
The governor pointed out that people should desist from using social media to incite others.
He said their visit to the different hospitals showed that there were two patients at Reddington Hospital in Victoria Island, one patient at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, two at Lagoon Hospital and four at the General Hospital, out of which two had been given Plaster of Paris. He added that the government would pay for their treatment.
The governor also announced the easing of the curfew in the state, noting that from Saturday morning, the curfew would be in place between 6pm and 8am. “People would be allowed to go out from 8am to 6pm,” he added.
Reacting to the debris, sticks and burnt tyres left on the streets by the hoodlums, he said the cleanup of the city by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority had commenced.
In Ogun State, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Waheed Odusile, in a release said, “Our combined team of law enforcement agents have been put on the alert to protect publico buildings and similar properties belonging to the government and other prominent facilities in all locations around the state. Anyone planning to attack any of these facilities is advised in their interest against such a move.”
In Kwara, the state Commissioner for Communications, Mrs Harriet Afolabi-Oshatimehin, in a statement said intelligence report available to the government revealed that some miscreants planned to burn down some public buildings in the state.
She said, “The government is in possession of intelligence reports that some anarchists, backed by certain political interests, are planning to attack public facilities in the state, especially the capital city, Ilorin.”
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