Governors in the South West region of the country have condemned the incident that occurred in Magodo Phase 2 Estate area of Lagos State where a Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP, failed to listen to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s instruction over the invasion of the estate by policemen.
The Chairman of the South West Governors’ Forum, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, in a statement, said that the attitude of the CSP was not only disgraceful but also disconcerting.
In a viral video on Tuesday, the police officer openly told the Lagos State Governor who had gone to Magodo residential estate to mediate over the land dispute, that only the Inspector General of Police, IGP, and the Attorney General of Federal could instruct him to leave the estate with his men.
Akeredolu described the incident as a brazen assault on decency and lashed out at the Attorney General, Abubakar Malami over his role in the situation.
He called the incident an “act of gross moral turpitude” even as he demanded that the IGP must explain the justification for the intrusion. He called on President Muhammadu Buhari to check the excesses of those under him.
The Chairman of the South West Governors who assured Sanwo-Olu of his colleagues’ support, however, advised the Lagos State Governor to deploy the Amotekun Corps for effective protection and security of his people.
“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.”
