…promises to compensate victims of Fagba ethnic violence

By Benjamin Omoike, Lagos

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

Speaking during a visit to Fagba in Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area of Lagos, to assess the level of destruction of property caused by last week’s ethnic clash between Yoruba and Hausa community in the area, Governor Sanwo-Olu said the State Government would be hard and very decisive on miscreants if they refuse to turn a new leaf.

Governor Sanwo-Olu, who was accompanied 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, assured residents of Fagba who were affected by the ethnic clashes that Lagos State Government would assist to alleviate their pains.

He said: “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.”

Stressing the need for miscreants to vacate Fagba, Governor Sanwo-Olu said: “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 neighborhood. 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.”

Speaking on his administration’s readiness to assist those affected by the violence, which led to destruction of properties worth billions of naira in Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area and Ojokoro Local Council Development Area, Governor Sanwo-Olu said the State Government will not leave the people to bear their pains alone.

He said: “Please let peace rein amomg 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 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. Government will come and we will try and help out.”

Speaking earlier, 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 appealed to Governor Sanwo-Olu to assist them in ensuring that Fagba area is rid off of miscreants, who according to them are the architects of several violence and disturbances in the area.