There are plans Nigeria’s military to deploy forces in Lagos state if needed, to protect public property and key businesses from destruction amidst increased violence in the state, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said on Thursday.
“The chief of defence staff called me yesterday (Wednesday) to find out what is happening on ground, the chief of army staff also called me to say that if indeed I require for the military to come out, they will deploy them,” the governor said when he appeared on ARISE News.
Lagos which is under a 24-hour curfew is experiencing an unprecedented level of chaos following Tuesday’s shooting of unarmed #EndSARS demonstrators at the Lekki Toll Plaza.
“There used to be an operation with the Police Force, they said if that’s not sufficient, they can bring out more security to forestall destruction of properties, especially strategic federal government installations,” he said. According to the governor, these include airports and seaports among others.
Sanwo-Olu, also indicated in the interview on ARISE News that the 24-hour curfew imposed on the state might be eased by Friday.
The easing of the curfew according to the governor was necessary for residents to restock on food supplies and other essential commodities and go about their normal business.
“On lifting the curfew, it is something we are monitoring on an hourly basis. Once we see that there is normalcy around the state, it is a pronouncement that we can make as early as tomorrow to ease the lockdown so that people can have the means to stock up and to buy food.
“Once we see the streets are cleared up and all the agitation and high nerves have gone down, we might slow down the curfew by tomorrow (Friday) or next tomorrow (Saturday) at the latest,” he said.
The governor said it was important to get economic activities running again in the state after the setbacks suffered due to the pandemic.
“We want to put this behind us very quickly. Lagos is not a state you stop activities for a long time. This is a state that runs 24/7 as it were and that is what we know our Lagos for and that is what we really need to get our Lagos back to,” he added.
By Abel Ejikeme