After Police Openly Defied Sanwo-Olu In Lagos, South West Govs Say Nigeria Cannot Continue Without Restructuring

Governors in the South West have condemned in strongest terms the police refusal to vacate Magodo Phase 2 Estate area of the state despite an order by Lagos State governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, describing it as an affront on federalism. 

The governor had paid an unscheduled visit to the estate, following fresh protests by residents over the large presence of armed policemen in the estate.

Sanwo-Olu had requested the police to vacate the estate, but the police  openly defied the governor’s request to the consternation of all those present.

The Chief Superintendent of Police who led the team said they were in the estate on the instruction of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Usman Baba Alkali, through the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, Abubakar Malami (SAN) and had not been directed to leave.

Reacting to the development, the Chairman of the South West Governors Forum and Ondo State governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, in a statement in Akure,  described the development as unacceptable to the governors in a federation where governors were supposed to be the chief security officers of their states.

Akeredolu, who condemned the action, called on the Inspector General of Police to explain the justification for the intrusion.

The statement reads “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 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.

Recall that on Tuesday, December 21, 2021, some persons described as miscreants, acting on the directive of judgment creditor, Adebayo Adeyiga, and court bailiffs, allegedly, invaded the estate, with the aim of taking over the land and property of residents, following purported court order ceding the land to Adeyiga.

The executives of the Magodo Residents Association, MRA, consequently ordered the two main gates leading into the estate shut in order to prevent any form of invasion.

After few hours of disturbance, residents and other people were allowed to go out of the estate but were prevented from reentering the estate.

Protesting residents displayed placards of various inscriptions to express their displeasure.

They queried the presence of the policemen who were said to have been in the estate since last month.

Some of the inscriptions read: “Lagos Attorney-General prosecute those involved in illegal invasion of Magodo Phase 2”, and “Magodo Phase 2 has been under siege of the IGP’s anti-riot police squad for three weeks.”

The residents subsequently called on the governor to intervene and Sanwo-Olu promptly visited the scene and told the leader of the police delegation that the land matter is a case between private individuals and the state government.