“Now that the National Assembly is making a law to create additional states for the people of Southeast, it is reasonable, fair and timely to create additional local governments for Lagos State.”
News
Violent attacks: IG visits Sanwo-Olu, says police tracking culprits
The Inspector General of Police, Muhammed Adamu, on Tuesday visited Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at the Marina State House to sympathise with the governor over the huge loss the state suffered recently in the hands of hoodlums who attacked private and public property in the aftermath of the #EndSARS protest.
It was the first time the Number One cop in the country would be visiting Lagos after a nationwide youth demonstration against human rights violations brutality allegedly committed by the disbanded men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
Six police officers were reportedly lynched in Lagos, 36 critically injured, while 46 police stations were torched, according to a statement by the governor’s spokesman, Gboyega Akosile.
Lagos was the epicentre of the EndSARS protest, which later snowballed into coordinated violence.
The governor, the statement said, received Adamu in company with the state Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, and Chief of Staff, Mr Tayo Ayinde.
Briefing the State House journalists on his mission in Lagos, the IGP said he was in the state for an assessment of the police assets vandalised after the protest and to commiserate with the residents.
Adamu consoled the governor and people of Lagos over the coordinated arson, which left strategic assets of the state in ruins.
He said the police had widened its intelligence to trace and arrest those that carried out the act.
He said, “Lagos was the epicentre where the #EndSARS protest took place and the number of destruction in the subsequent violence was more in Lagos than any other part. I came to commiserate with the governor and people of the state. The destruction they suffered was uncalled for.
“The second leg of my visit is to see the police stations destroyed and boost the morale of our men in Lagos. We don’t want them to be demoralised by the event in which they suffered personal attacks. Policemen are trained to take such pain. Now that the event has happened, it shouldn’t discourage us from performing our constitutional duties.”
The police boss said his visit would encourage them to give their all in protecting the lives and property of the citizens.
Adamu said the scale of the destruction witnessed in Lagos and around the country called for the need by Nigerians to adopt standard protocols for public protests whenever they wanted to express their grievances against the system.
“It is very important to set up protocols that will prevent hoodlums to hijack peaceful protest organised with good intentions. The moment the protest organisers don’t have leadership, the purpose and intent of the effort would be defeated. As we have seen in the case of #EndSARS protest; no economy will be able to bear the loss that we have seen in Lagos,” the IGP said.
Sanwo-Olu commiserated with the police chief over the mob attacks on police personnel and torching of their stations.
Despite the violence visited on the police formations by hoodlums who hijacked the protest, the governor commended the officers of the state police command for exercising restraint in the face of the attacks.
Sanwo-Olu intimated the IGP on the move by the state government to rebuild the razed police stations and offer scholarship awards to the children of the officers killed in the violence.
The governor assured Adamu that all the requests sent to the state government by the police would be fulfilled.
He said the state government would be championing a cause to improve citizen-police relationship in order to prevent reoccurrence of the issues that led to the EndSARS protest.
In the IGP’s entourage is the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in charge of Research and Planning, Leye Oyebade; his counterpart in Force Intelligence, Ibrahim Lamorde; Assistant Inspector General (AIG) in charge of Force Operations, Hosea Karma, AIG Zone 2, Ahmed Ilyasu, Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, among others.
News
Protest: Police combat ready, deploy 4,200 operatives to FCT strategic places
Protest: Police combat ready, deploy 4,200 operatives to FCT strategic places
The police say they are combat ready to crush any form of violence that may result from nationwide protests planned for next Thursday August 1 by some Nigerians against hardship and bad governance.
Indeed, starting with the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, the police said it had deployed armed operatives to strategic locations.
The FCT Minister Nyesom Wike had earlier warned the organisers of the protest that Abuja would not be available for any rally or demonstration on August 1.
But a statement by Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh, in Abuja on Friday, said the FCT Command had deployed a total of 4,200 police officers to curb any form of violence that might arise from the protest.
The command was reacting in anticipation of the planned nationwide protest by some human rights activists and Nigerian youths, to publicly express their displeasure over hunger and hardship.
The planned protest has since generated massive traction on social media, especially on X.
According to Adeh, the command has proactively deployed material and human resources across the nooks and crannies of the nation’s capital.
The deployment, he said, was aimed at ensuring public safety, protecting protesters, and preventing protests from being hijacked by non-state actors.
The police command said the action was part of visibility policing, involving deployment of explosive ordinance devices (EOD) experts, and personnel at various strategic locations, raids on identified black spots, uncompleted buildings/shanties, stop and search, vehicular and foot patrol, and synergy with sister security agencies.
The Commissioner of Police FCT, Benneth Igweh, while acknowledging the right of residents to protest, advised that it should be peaceful.
He wrote, “The CP vows to resist all forms of violent protest and lawlessness, as the police will not be stampeded into allowing the destruction of public and private properties or loss of lives.
Residents are also advised to be vigilant and take advantage of the police emergency lines, to report suspicious activities through 08032003913, 08028940883, 08061581938, 07057337653 PCB: 09022222352, and CRU: 08107314192.
News
National Assembly urged to create more councils for Lagos
National Assembly urged to create more councils for Lagos
National Assembly has been urged to create more local governments for Lagos State, to meet its current population, social, economic and environmental challenges.
The Red Chamber is also advised to enact laws granting the state a special status for being the country’s commercial city and economic melting pot.
Renowned socio-political activist and critic, Chief Adesunbo Onitiri, made the demands in a statement in Lagos.
The activist recalled that in 1976 when the military government created states and local governments, Lagos and Kano states had 20 councils each.
“Later, Kano State councils increased to 44, while Lagos councils remained at 20. When the Abacha government carved out Jigawa State out of Kano State, Jigawa got 27 local governments, while Kano was still having 44 councils.
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“It is an injustice for Lagos State to remain with only 20 local governments till today, despite its gigantic social, security and economic problems,” Onitiri said.
He recalled that when the then Governor of Lagos State, now Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, created 37 additional councils in 1999, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, then President, seized Lagos State federal allocations for two years.
He said Lagos State through the then Attorney-General, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, sued the Federal Government, and the state government won the case against Federal Government at the Supreme Court.
He regretted that till now, National Assembly has not done the needful to enact a law to accommodate the 37 local governments created by Lagos State Government.
News
FG warns LG chairs misusing FAAC funds will face jail term
FG warns LG chairs misusing FAAC funds will face jail term
The Federal Government has threatened jail terms for Local Government Area chairmen who tamper with Federation Accounts Allocation Committee funds.
Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, made the announcement yesterday at the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria’s 17th annual lecture event in Abuja.
He stated that none of the chairmen have immunity and will be imprisoned if they tamper with funds designated for the development of their areas. Fagbemi stated, “We have a situation on our hands; I know that it is still there; the conduct of elections must be done by the states.”
“But the distinction is this: don’t forget, the governors have immunity, the local government council chairmen or councillors, they have no immunity, so they have to choose between dealing with the funds of the local government as they like and risking going to jail. The choice is theirs (LG chairmen).
“If they want to tamper with these funds and end up in jail, it is their choice. If they want to write their names in letters of gold, activities like construction or road upgrades must be returned to the local government. They don’t all have to come to Abuja.
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“If they stay at the local government, we will be able to reduce the level of insecurity that we have in Nigeria today. What obtains offshore is that the security agents are able to perform optimally because of information that comes to them from members of the public and usually it is from the grassroots.”
The minister said the federal government opted to use the supreme court to achieve local government autonomy due to the challenges it will face at state assemblies, stressing that any speaker who would have supported the cause will not survive the tenure or lose his reelection.
The Minister stated that for over two decades, local government administration in the country has been in comatose with state governments not remitting funds meant for the local governments.
Fagbemi, who urged security agents in the country to stop keeping suspects in detention beyond the period allowed by the constitution, added that detention without any court order will no longer be tolerated as appropriate sanctions will be applied to those found guilty of contravening the law of the land.
On his part, the National coordinator of HURIWA, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, urged the federal government to cut down on the cost of governance.
He blamed corruption for the insecurity and high unemployment rate in the country, which is responsible for impending protests in the country.
FG warns LG chairs misusing FAAC funds will face jail term
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