Chief Olabode George, PDP chieftain and chairman of Omo Eko Pataki, has described an alleged attempt by the Lagos State authorities to reopen Lekki tollgate, scene of an alleged murder of EndSARS protesters on October 20, 2020, as cruel, insensitive, vicious and unacceptable.
George who spoke while addressing newsmen at the weekend, urged the state to scrap and dismantle the tollgate.
The PDP chieftain who lamented the suffering of Nigerians in the hands of the APC government, threatened to institute a lawsuit to stop the reopening of the Lekki Tollgates.
“It is rather sad and sickening, in this time of grave moral challenges, when the ordinary Lagosian can hardly find three square meals a day; when the commuters cannot afford the fare of transportation; when parents cannot afford the sky-rocketing school fees for their children; when the ordinary tenants can hardly pay their annual rent,” he said.
“Behold, this is the unsavoury time that the government of Lagos State has chosen to impose more burden on the average Lagosian. They want to bring the toll gates back.
“It is cruel, insensitive, vicious and totally unacceptable. It is misgovernance of the worst scale.
“This action which is obviously sanctioned to source money for his moribund presidential ambition does not portray an enlightened leadership. It does not exemplify a selfless shepherding. It does not equate to an exemplary reference of salvaging truth.
“It does not reflect a conscionable concern of elected leadership.”
He continued, “Lagosians have awoken. Barely two years when they mowed down innocent youths at the Lekki Toll Gates, when innocent youths, young men and women, shed their blood for the unity of this nation. Some people have decided to bring back the toll gates. It is a bad hasty decision at a very bad time.
“We, at Omo Eko Pataki, will ensure through all legitimate, legal and valid means- that the truth prevails, that righteousness is validated; and the majesty of the light is brightened across our state.
“We seek no fight with anyone, but justice. We seek no quarrel with anyone, but the truth. We seek no engagement with anyone, but the accommodation of what is right, and what is just.
“Our appeal is to the greater input of humankind. We do not ask for mercy; we ask for justice. We do not ask for help; we ask for justice. We do not ask for beggarly pleas; we ask for what is right.
“The dumb idea to bring back the toll gates on that very hallowed ground where patriots fell is tantamount to an egregious provocation. It is a combustible material, a seed of discord that will bring nobody any good.
“These are our resolutions: the two Toll gates should be scrapped, dismantled outright; a befitting memorial should be erected in lasting permanence about the patriots who lost their lives on October 20, 2020.
“The Lagos state government should pay necessary compensation to the families of the deceased.
“October 20, 2020, should henceforth be declared as patriot’s day in eternal remembrance of the Endsars heroes
“Finally, we are not afraid of a good fight. We will not stop. We will never yield. We will never rest until justice prevails upon our ancestral soil.”