Emmanuel Ikechukwu
The Lagos State Government on Saturday demolished the headquarters of the Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme Task force office at the old Toll Gate at the Ketu end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Little or no explanation was given for the exercise.
To observers, the task force has had a running battle with the state traffic management agency (LASTMA) the better part of last year. Obviously, the loss of election by the PDP dismantled any resistance whatsoever from the federal task force maintained by SURE-P.
Chairman of the State Taskforce on Environmental and Special Offences, Hakeem Adedeji, told newsmen that the demolition was carried out on the orders of of the state government.
“The reason for the demolition is to the best knowledge of the governor because he was the one who directed that the buildings should be pulled down in the interest of the public,’’ he said.
Adedeji said he believed Governor Akinwunmi Ambode must have issued the directive based on the abandonment of the building and its conversion to a hideout by miscreants.
The chairman noted that the structure ought to have been demolished since June 22, but that due process had to be followed before carrying out the demolition.
“All these are geared towards ensuring that the rights of the citizens are not infringed upon,” Adedeji, a Superintendent of Police, said.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that earlier this year, former Governor Babatunde Fashola wrote to former President Goodluck Jonathan over the presence of the officials, who claimed to have been set up by the Presidency, to publicly state their functions.
