The South West Governors Forum has condemned the exchange of words between a Chief Superintendent of Police, and the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, over the ongoing crisis rocking the Magodo Residential Estate.
They also asked the Lagos State Governor to deploy the regional security outfit in the State – Lagos Neighborhood Safety Corps – to protect residents of Magodo.
The governors expressed their displeasure in a statement by their Chairman and Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, titled, ‘Southwest Governors: Police Officer’s Disrespect To
Sanwo-Olu An Unacceptable Intrusion …say Lagos must deploy Amotekun now’, on Wednesday.
The PUNCH had reported the policemen recently accompanied suspected land grabbers and members of a family who planned to demolish property on the estate to execute a Supreme Court judgment.
During the invasion, the hoodlums used red, brown, and blue inks to inscribe ‘ID/795/88 Possession Taken Today 21/12/21 by Court Order,’ on property on the estate.
The group was about to invade the estate with a bulldozer when the estate management ordered a closure of the gate.
While the crisis lingers, Sanwo-Olu, on Tuesday, led members of his cabinet to visit residents protesting against the continuous presence of armed policemen in the Magodo Phase 2 Estate area of the state.
However, there was a mild drama when Sanwo-Olu, who also visited the scene, asked the police team leader to leave the estate with his men.
He said, “It is a case between the supposed people and Lagos State Government; it has nothing to do with the residents.
“Please, can you call your superior in Abuja and tell them that the governor is here and as the chief security officer, you don’t have any business to be in my state right now and I want you to disengage.”
Responding, the police officer said, “I am here on the instruction of the Inspector-General of Police, through the AGF. I am too small or too low to call them.
“Your excellency, with due respect sir, you can call them. It is not my duty to call because I am too low to do that Sir.”
Reacting, the South-West governors faulted the roles of the Inspector General of Police and Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, in the crisis.
The statement read, “The utter disrespect, which underlines the response of the officer to the Governor establishes, beyond doubt, the impracticability of the current system, dubiously christened “Federalism”. An arrangement, which compels the Governor of a State to seek clarifications on security issues in his jurisdiction from totally extraneous bodies or persons, is a sure recipe for anarchy.
“We condemn, very strongly, this brazen assault on decency. We call on the IGP to explain the justification for this intrusion. This is not acceptable. Any expectations of rapprochement between so-called federating units and federal security agencies are becoming forlorn, progressively, due to deliberate acts which mock our very avowal to ethics and professionalism.
“We condemn, in very clear terms, the role of the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami SAN in this act of gross moral turpitude.
“We, on our part, will continue to interrogate the current system, which treats elected representatives of the people as mere prefects, while appointed office holders ride roughshod over them as Lords of the Manor.
“If the purported Chief Security Officers of the States of the Federation require clearance from the office of the IG on matters within their areas of jurisdictions, only hypocrites will wonder why the current security crisis deepens and there appears to be no solution in the foreseeable future.
“We stand by our brother, the Governor of Lagos State. We advise him to deploy the Regional security outfit in the State to protect the lives and property of the people.
“We call on the President and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces to rein in the excesses of certain elements bent on acting in a manner capable of eroding the bond of trust existing between the people and the Federal Government.
“It is preposterous for political appointees to seek to undermine the very structure of service upon which their appointments rest.”
Copyright PUNCH.
