The role of the new Federal
task force in Lagos has sparked renewed face-off between the ruling All
Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party, writes ENIOLA AKINKUOTU
They are noticeable around the old
tollgate area along Lagos-Ibadan expressway. Clad in black shirts with
the inscription, FERCSARA, they are young men and women working with the
Federal Roads Committee on Surveillance and Action against Roadside
Trading and other Forms of Road Abuse. You cannot but notice them
performing some form of exercise and training every morning. Although
not armed, FERCSARA, a federal task force, has been branded as thugs of
the Peoples Democratic Party by the All Progressives Congress-led Lagos
State Government.
The PDP has made it clear that it will
win Lagos in 2015. A good number of agencies such as the Lagos State
Traffic Management Authority, Kick Against Indiscipline, Rapid Response
Squad, Lagos State task force are being run by the APC-led Lagos State
Government. These agencies are seen by politicians especially as a
platform to mobilise the electorate. It appears the PDP is set to
exploit this platform in the bid to neutralise the control of Lagos
State government over the electorate hence the formation of the new
taskforce.
According to the Federal Government, the
reason for creating the task force is not to combat the APC but to
create jobs for many Nigerian youths through the Subsidy Reinvestment
and Empowerment Programme otherwise known as SURE-P. Political
observers, however, predicted that although in theory, the federal task
force is neutral, it would almost be impossible for it to exist side by
side with Lagos state agencies.
Also, the APC has been quick to point
out that the coordinator of the federal task force, Mr. Abdurazak Rafiu,
popularly known as Otolorin, defected from the former Action Congress
of Nigeria (now part of the APC) to the PDP and therefore has an
ulterior motive for running the taskforce.
Expectedly, a few weeks after it began
full operation, over 200 officials of the federal task force were
arrested by the Lagos State task force on Environmental Sanitation and
Special Offences in their training ground at the old Lagos tollgate and
taken to the headquarters of the Lagos State Police Command in Ikeja.
According to the Lagos State taskforce led by a Chief Superintendent of
Police, Bayo Sulaiman, officials of the Lagos task force tried to arrest
a vehicle plying the BRT lane at Ketu area but the driver diverted the
vehicle into the premises of the federal taskforce at the old tollgate.
He said in the process of trying to get the vehicle back, officials of
the federal task force allegedly mobilised and attacked the policemen
with planks and bottles, inflicting injuries on them.
The Commissioner for Information, Lateef
Ibirogba, immediately released a statement saying, “The police
intercepted a strange group of usurpers posing as traffic officials on
Lagos roads. Dressed in grey and black uniforms, the group, numbering
about 35, invaded Lagos roads in Ojota, Tollgate and Ikorodu Road at
about 7am, causing confusion on the roads in their attempt to take over
the job of LASTMA.”
In his reaction, the National Publicity
Director, SURE-P/FERMA task force, Mr. Olawale Oyeboh, said LASTMA had
no business being on Federal Government roads and warned the agency to
stay off. He further stated that his men were not working for the PDP to
destabilise Lagos State in view of the coming elections.
According to Oyeboh, the presence of the
federal task force men on the federal roads falls under the
jurisdiction of the agencies as backed by the laws which established
them. Contrary to the accusation that the federal agencies had hijacked
the functions of LASTMA, Oyeboh declared that the Lagos State government
agency had no business being on the federal roads. He said, “How can
political thugs be groomed by the Federal Government? They are only
feeling intimidated by their selfish interest and Lagosians are tired of their exploitation.
“It is an empowerment programme by the
Federal Government for the youth to work on the federal roads which is
our jurisdiction. The LASTMA are Lagos agents and cannot be on federal
roads but state roads.”
Oyeboh, who insisted that the arrest of
his men was uncalled for said, “The aggression was planned, they came
fully prepared. Before we knew what was happening, policemen had started
firing into the air, while others fired teargas canisters into our
compound, giving way for the thugs to loot our office.”
The incident, according to pundits, is a
repeat of the feud between former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola
Tinubu; and a former Minister of Works, Adeseye Ogunlewe in which the
latter deployed task force officials to federal roads and warned LASTMA
and other state officials to keep off. Lives were lost while properties
destroyed. Although the federal task force claims to be apolitical, its
involvement in the PDP rally that held a few days ago at the Gani
Fawehinmi Freedom Park, Ojota, stirred a fresh set of allegations by the
APC.
The federal task force officials were
seen providing security for all the PDP governorship aspirants and
leaders that were present at the rally. In fact, they constituted a
large number of the crowd that cheered Ekiti State Governor-elect, Mr.
Ayo Fayose, who came to campaign for the PDP and advised the Lagos PDP
governorship aspirants on how to wrest Lagos State from the APC.
According to an anonymous source within
the APC, the federal task force will not only be used as thugs next year
but “may be given army uniforms and pose as soldiers manning the
various polling units.”
The Publicity Secretary of the APC in
Lagos, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, told our correspondent during an interview that
by setting up a parallel task force in Lagos State, the PDP was
provoking a possible bloodshed ahead of 2015. He said the presence of
the taskforce officials at the PDP rally last Friday confirmed
allegations that the task force was set up to fight the cause of the
PDP.
He said, “We have been talking about
this task force and their role in next year’s election. They have even
had confrontations with KAI and LASTMA and we saw it coming. Their
presence at the PDP rally is evidence for our claims. They are part of
the PDP’s plan to capture Lagos. We have let them know it might cause
confusion and bloodshed in Lagos and we have informed the Federal
Government. The governor has raised the alarm. The whole thing is
similar to what Ogunlewe did during the Tinubu administration. He
brought them under FERMA and people were killed and maimed while
properties were destroyed. This new task force is just for 2015. But Lagosians will not be deceived.
“If the PDP does not disband those
hoodlums, there will be trouble. They will meet force with force in
Lagos like when Ogunlewe was there. The task force hoodlums are
increasing in number every day. I pity the youths that are being used by
the PDP.”
Igbokwe said the intention of the
taskforce was also suspect because it was only operating in Lagos. He
said the APC was aware that the task force was also working personally
for PDP leaders as domestic servants at their homes.
However, the PDP’s Publicity Secretary
in Lagos, Mr. Taofik Gani, said the APC was making baseless accusations
because it knew that its days were numbered in Lagos. Gani, who admitted
that the taskforce officials were part of the PDP rally, said the task
force had freedom of association and did nothing wrong by being at the
rally.
Gani said, “The APC in Lagos is acting
like a drowning man and they will be desperate to hold on to anything
and we expect more blackmail as elections approach. I will not be
categorical as to whether a group has sympathy for the PDP or not.
However, we are surprised that the APC-led government in Lagos, which
has the highest number of uniformed personnel, would make such
accusations. They have LASTMA, KAI, Neighbourhood Watch, Boy’s Scouts,
Man ‘O’ War and others. The task force did not carry banners at the
rally. That they were at the rally does not mean they are PDP
supporters. However, there is freedom of association as long as they are
working within the confines of the law. We have been put on alert by
the threat of the APC. We are, however, concerned that the APC is seeing
the recruitment of unemployed youths into the taskforce as political.
Why can’t they ever see anything good in government policy? It is an
employment opportunity for our youths.”
The head of the task force, Abdulrazaq
Rafiu, said the task force would not be intimidated by the threats of
the APC. Rafiu described the APC as a group of bad politicians, adding
that instead of the state government to commend the Federal Government
for employing Lagosians, it was playing politics. He said,
“Yes, they (task force) were at the rally but they were not there for
the PDP. They went to maintain order just like every other civil agency
like the police, FRSC and NSCDC. The APC has plundered all the resources
of Lagos State and there is a high rate of unemployment in the state.
Unemployment leads to crime and the Federal Government then decided to
help out by creating jobs for the youths but the APC state government is
not mindful of this fact.
“The APC are jittery because of the
Ekiti loss. I was a member of the APC before but I left because of the
bad people in the party. The task force’s area of responsibility is
limited to Federal Government roads and they are not disturbing anybody
and yet they were arrested and harassed by the state government. If the
APC tries anything funny for a second time, we are ready for them. The
last time that the task force officials were arrested, they willingly
gave themselves in because the police were involved and our people
respected the police. But if the APC wants to try it again, they will
not find it easy.”
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