Repairs of Destroyed Landmark Properties

Repairs of Destroyed Landmark Properties

Bunmi Fache

For two days, hoodlums went on the rampage, looting and destroying private and public facilities following the Lekki tollgate shooting. Government parastatals, private businesses were looted and, in some cases, razed. The cost of the properties and infrastructure vandalised were not quickly estimated, but in Lagos, it was initially estimated that repairs would cost N1 trillion, according to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.

Some of the properties and infrastructure destroyed include the burning of 27 BRT buses in the Oyingbo and Ojodu Berger areas of Lagos, defacing of the Lekki and Ikoyi tollgates, vandalisation of the Lekki Concession Company, destruction of 25 police stations, 20 patrol vehicles, three barracks and communication gadgets estimated to cost N10 billion. There was the desecration of Oba of Lagos’ palace, attack on Television Continental, Max FM, The Nation Newspaper, Oriental Hotel, banks, shopping malls, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu mother’s house, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), VIS and FRSC offices, Igbosere Court Complex, Ikoyi Prison among others.

While private businesses have repaired the damages, not all public buildings have been renovated. For instance, the police station at Orile bus stop has yet to be rebuilt. However, the Admiralty Circle toll plaza on the Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge and the Lekki toll plaza along the Lekki-Epe Expressway had been fixed. The governor established the Lagos State Rebuilding Trust Fund to drive reconstruction plans.

In Ebonyi, however, where four police stations were destroyed, the governor pledged to repair only two of the stations. Enugu suffered a similar fate to Lagos, with buses, traffic lights, and bus shelters destroyed, the newly-built Nigeria Immigration Service office complex at Emene, the torching of the National Identity Management Commission office building, the Njodo Development Centre, and the Enugu North Local Government Council Secretariat’s security house.

Also, the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus security house was vandalised; banks, ATM galleries, the CCB building, and business premises in the state capital did not escape the fire and fury of hoodlums. The state began the reconstruction of 194 bus shelters through the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority in the first round of the rebuild last year.

For Cross River, repairs of federal and state properties destroyed, according to the Cross River State Policy Advocacy Committee, CRS-PAC, would take billions of naira and several months to fix. Facilities already repaired include the Water Parks Tinapa and the West African Examination Council (WAEC) office.

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