- Want Buhari to intervene, call on lG to explain intrusion
- Condemn AGF, Malami for the gross moral turpitude
South West Governors have described the defiance if the order of Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on a Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP, to vacate the Magodo Phase 2 Estate area of the state as an unacceptable intrusion.
The CSP claimed that 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 has not been directed to leave.
Governor Sanwo- Olu’s intervention came when he paid an unscheduled visit to the estate, following fresh protests by residents over the large presence of armed policemen in the estate.
Chairman of the South West Forum and Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, in a statement in Akure personally signed by him described the development as unacceptable to the governors.
Akeredolu who condemned the action called on the Inspector General of Police lG 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 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.
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.
The reported exchange put the nation’s federalism on trial as it reinforced the argument that state governors, dubbed Chief Security Officers of their respective states, are mere paper tigers and are not really in charge of security in their various states.
In the hot exchange captured in a short video that has gone viral, the governor was seen directing the unidentified police officer, who said he is a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) to disengage from the assignment, which he (the governor) said was illegal, since he was not aware of the operations as the Chief Security Officer of the state.
The officer refused to disembark, explaining that he was there with his men at the orders of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) through the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).
He also refused to give the governor the exact figure of officers in the operations, arguing that he cannot give out such information for security reasons.
Below is a verbatim transcription of the altercation as captured in the video.
Governor Sanwo-Olu: “I have spoken with the AGF. He is not aware that you are here.”
Officer: “Then, we are waiting for their call to disengage.”
Governor: “Can you call your superior officer in Abuja and tell him that the governor is here, I am the Chief Security Officer of the state and that you have no business being in my state, and that I want you to disengage right now?”
Officer: “Thank you sir. I am not here on my own order. I am too small to call them Your Excellency.”
Governor: “That is why I am here, telling you to inform them. If I make the call, you will suffer. You can call and tell them that the governor is here in front of you, what should I do?”
Officer: “It is not my duty to do that sir. I cannot call because I am too low to do that sir.”
Governor: “So, where are your men?
Officer: “My men are here. They are all over the estate.”
Governor: “How many of them?”
Officer: “We have several of them, but I cannot precisely tell you the number.”
Governor: “What is the number that you have here? You cannot give a head count of your men?”
Officer: “I know their number. I am sorry, Your Excellency, for security purposes, I cannot disclose the figure.”
Vanguard / The Guardian
