Communal clash: Sanwo-Olu reads riot act to miscreants in Lagos

Lagos State governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has read a riot act to miscreants and hoodlums in the state, urging them to be law-abiding and peaceful or face the full wrath of the law.

Sanwo-Olu gave this vow during a visit to Fagba in Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area of the state to assess the level of destruction of properties caused by last week’s ethnic clash between Yoruba and Hausa community in the area, saying the state government would be hard and very decisive on miscreants if they refused to turn a new leaf.

The governor was accompanied on the assessment visit by his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat; Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mrs Folasade Jaji; Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mr Tokunbo Wahab and Head of Service, Mr Hakeem Muri-Okunola.

Governor Sanwo-Olu, who observed that the level of destruction in the area during the communal clash was colossal, describing the incident as unfortunate, assured residents of Fagba who were affected that the state government would assist to alleviate their pains.

“The level of destruction that I have seen here is colossal; it is unfortunate. Enumeration would start immediately by the two local governments. The council chairmen and all the community leaders will come together and come up with a list of those whose properties have been destroyed.

“The security operatives are here; they can hear everything. We are using this opportunity to give notices to all the miscreants in the neighbourhood and that is why I am looking at you.

“If you know that you are not doing any work and that you are one of the people that have caused this trouble, we are giving you the final notice because we are coming to clear this whole place,” the governor said.

Sanwo-Olu, while stressing the need for miscreants to vacate Fagba, maintained that the state government was coming to clear the whole place, warning those who were out to disturb the peace of the area where all major ethnic nationalities in the country live to desist from such.

“We are coming to clear this whole place and we will make sure that you do not disturb or harass the peace-loving people that we have in this neighbourhood. We have Hausa community, Igbo community and Yoruba community and they are living well.

“You need to look for what to do; we will not allow you to come and tarnish the image and the peace that we have in Fagba and in Lagos State as a whole.

“We will make sure that we also come and see what we can do to help the youth. And once we do that, we are giving you an opportunity to remain law-abiding and be peaceful. If not, we will be hard and be very decisive on all of you,” Governor Sanwo-Olu vowed.

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On his administration’s readiness to assist those affected by the violence, which led to the destruction of properties worth billions of naira in Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area and Ojokoro Local Council Development Area, Governor Sanwo-Olu, while appealing for calm, further assured that the state government would not leave the people to bear their pains alone.

“Please let peace reign among us here. That is why I have to come here myself today and I have seen the destruction and it is a big shame on all of us. I want to appeal, please let peace reign. Let us live like brothers and sisters in Lagos.

“We will do the compensation as soon as we get the breakdown of the enumeration. We might not be able to give you all the full benefits but we will ensure that we do not leave you alone.

“Please let’s be sincere about it. If you don’t have more than two shops in this place, don’t say you have eight. If you don’t have more than two rooms, don’t say you have nine rooms. That is the only way the government can assist well and we can help.

“I have come here to see things myself and I can assure you that we will not leave you alone. I can assure you that we will not leave you to bear the pains alone. The government will come and we will try and help out,” he further assured.

The chairmen of Ifako-Ijaiye LGA, Hon Oloruntoba Oke and his Ojokoro counterpart, Hon Hammed Tijani, as well as leaders of the Yoruba and Hausa communities, who all spoke earlier, appealed to Governor Sanwo-Olu to assist them in ensuring that Fagba area was rid off of miscreants, who according to them were the architects of several violence and disturbances in the area.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE