South-west governors ask Sanwo-Olu to deploy Amotekun over Magodo face-off

South-west governors have called on Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos state, to deploy Amotekun “to protect the lives and property of the people”.

This is coming on the heels of a face-off between Sanwo-Olu and a police officer over the occupation of Magodo Residential Scheme II by police officers from Abuja who say they want to enforce a supreme court judgment over the land.

“We are in possession of a video which has gone viral on the social media concerning the disgraceful exchange between a police officer, a CSP, and the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwoolu, the supposed Chief Security Officer of the State, at the Magodo Residential Estate,” the Forum of South-west Governors said in a statement signed by its chairman, Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo state.

On December 21, police officers and some suspected thugs besieged the estate marking buildings for demolition. Residents shut the estate and protested the invasion.

The siege continued on Tuesday as residents protested, demanding the intervention of the governor.

The governor visited the estate to address the residents but met a phalanx of police officers who refused to vacate the premises even after he asked them to.

The Magodo estate phase two imbroglio follows a 2012 supreme court judgment in favour of the Shangisha Landlords represented by the Adeyiga family.

The military government of Lagos state in 1985 had reportedly repossessed the property illegally and allocated the same to private individuals.

THE FULL STATEMENT

We are in possession of a video which has gone viral on the social media concerning the disgraceful exchange between a police officer, a CSP, and the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwoolu, the supposed Chief Security Officer of the State, at the Magodo Residential Estate.

The content of the video is very disconcerting, and this is being charitable. 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 IG 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 rough shod 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 condemn very strongly, this brazen assault on decency. We call on the IG 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 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.