Success Nwogu
Leader, Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), and Chairman, Board of Trustees, Ijaw National Congress, Chief (Dr.) Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, OFR, CON, on Wednesday condemned the Inspector-General of Police, Alkali Baba Usman, and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, over their alleged roles on the siege by policemen at Magodo Phase 2 Estate area of Lagos State.
His position aligned with that of the South-West Governors, according to a statement on Wednesday by Chairman of the South-West Governors Forum and Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN).
Pa Clark said it was wrong for the IGP to have alleged sent policemen to Lagos State without the knowledge of the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
He said, “Again, the idea of IGP sending police to a state without notifying the governor is wrong. I am told that a 2012 judgment by the Supreme Court gave the land to some people. Now, since 2012 till today is about 10 years, one would have expected that by this time, the judgment would have been executed. If the judgement had not been executed or enforced, the Commissioner of Police in Lagos should be informed to provide the police within Lagos to go and enforce the judgement.
“But not for IGP to send policemen from Abuja in collaboration with the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, who has nothing to do with that, to Lagos or was going to break law and order. And the governor went there and I saw the drama between the CSP and the governor. That is not how it should be. That shows clearly that the governors are powerless, yet they provide facilities for the police which they do not control. So as far as I am concerned,
“I am not interested in the Supreme Court judgement business but the role played by the police is not good enough. That is my concern. It shows that the states should have their own police.”
Police officers and some suspected thugs, had on December 21, 2021 besieged the estate and marked buildings for demolition and claimed to be have come to effect a judgement of the Supreme Court.
The residents protested the presence of the policemen and the suspected thugs and shut the gate of the estate.
They called on Sanwo-Olu to intervene.
In response to their outcry, the governor, in company with some of his cabinet members visited the estate to assess the development and address the residents.
The governor spoke with a Chief Superintendent of Police who led the police officers, who told him that they were sent there on the orders of the IGP and the AGF.
The CSP declined to call the IGP when the governor told him to do so on the ground that he was very junior to call his boss.
The governor who was miffed by the insubordination later spoke to journalists and left the estate, promising that a committee had been set to address issues surrounding the judgement.
It was learned that the Magodo estate phase 2 crisis was sequel to a 2012 Supreme Court judgment said to be in favour of the Shangisha Landlords represented by the Adeyiga family.
It was further gathered that the military government of Lagos State had in 1985 reportedly repossessed the property ‘illegally’ and allocated the same to private individuals.
Chairman of the South-West Governors Forum, Akeredolu, in a statement in Akure he personally signed said the South-West governors condemned the action of the CSP to the Lagos State Governor.
The state read: “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.”
He added, “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 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.”