Lekki Shooting: Fashola-led Committee Briefs FEC, Urges FG to Investigate Military Involvement

Lekki Shooting: Fashola-led Committee Briefs FEC, Urges FG to Investigate Military Involvement

By Adedayo Akinwale

The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has revealed that his committee has briefed the Federal Executive Council (FEC) about the shooting and the destruction of property that took place in Lagos as part of the fallout of the #EndSARS protest.

Fashola, while briefing State House Correspondents Wednesday after the weekly FEC meeting, said he briefed the council on behalf of ministers from the South-west namely, Niyi Adebayo representing Ekiti, Rauf Aregbesola representing Osun, Sunday Dare representing Oyo, Olamilekan Adegbite representing Ogun, Olorunimbe Memora Lagos and Tayo Aladura representing Ondo, regarding the assignment given to them on October 21st.

He said the committee first held a meeting before meeting with the governors from the South-west, adding that the position of the governors was that Lagos being the epic centre, commercial and strategic city state in the South-west and the country should be visited.

Fashola stated: “So, I just briefed council about the reports that were presented to us by the Lagos State Government when we visited. The summary is that about 15 police stations were lost, commercial undertakings especially the ones in Lekki and many other parts in Surulere were damaged, some schools were also damaged, private properties were also damaged and public buildings like the city hall, the Lagos High Court, Lagos Forensic Laboratory and DNA Centre, the Nigeria Ports Authority were also damaged.

“The palace of the Oba of Lagos and many others. So, we presented the documentary evidence presented to us by the Government of Lagos State which was shown to Council.

“Then we visited a few palaces — the Lagos High Court led by the Governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, we visited NPA, forensic lab and the Lekki Toll Plaza as well and as you all know, we found some items which we handed over to the state government at the site.”

Fashola added that the Minister of Youth and Sports also visited the Lagos Island Hospital to empathize with seven persons who were reported to have sustained various degree of injuries in the ward and emergency unit and also visited media houses to commiserate with them in the destruction of property.

He said the highlight of the briefing was to make recommendations to the federal government to support Lagos State to restore damaged facilities, especially those related to the maintenance of law and order and the administration of justice such as police, court buildings and forensic laboratory.

Fashola said the report was also for the government to consider supporting the Lagos High Court judges either with the provision of some office accommodation as a temporary relocation.

He said: “To also urge the federal government to consider short to medium term support to small and medium businesses who were affected by the looting and arson which took place in Lagos and other parts of the country, to see if something can be done through the Central Bank Intervention Mechanism under the COVID-19 funding or any other related funding mechanism. And to also ensure that whatever is approved should also involve the National Economic Council, the platform on which state governors meet, so that other states across the country who were also affected, businesses were damaged can benefit in addition to Lagos residence who may so be supported.

“We also urge federal government to undertake a thorough investigation into what happened in the Lekki Toll Plaza, particularly the role of the military and ensure that the outcome is made public with a view to achieving closure on the matter.

“We recommended that the federal government re-mobilize critical organs and agencies such as National Orientation Agency and formal educational institutions to focus on ethical re-orientation, inculcation of family values into the school curriculum. We recommended focus on etiquette, local reasoning, critical thinking, solution seeking, empathy, self respect, civic duty and human rights.

“We also recommended to the federal government to actively seek and support the process of justice for all by ensuring that any of those apprehended and identified to be involved in the perpetration of this carnage be speedily be brought to justice and fairly tried.”

Fashola noted that the report also urged the federal government to implement the maintenance of facility management policy approved by FEC in 2019 for federal ministries, department and agencies (MDAs) and to encourage states to do the same.

According to him, “We do this because we see this as a usual vehicle to help absorb and create immediate employment of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labour in order to address huge unemployment and poverty related part of the problem. This is important because people have skills but we need to provide the economic environment in which those skills can become income earning and self rewarding.”

The committee further urged the government to restore confidence and morale of the police and to also improve their welfare.

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