NAN-H-71
Demolition
Lagos, Nov. 15, 2016 (NAN) The National Conscience Party (NCP) has urged the Lagos State Government to stop the demolition exercise it was carrying out in some parts of the state and compensate the affected people.
Mr Fatai Ibuowo, the Lagos State Chairman of NCP, said in a statement in Lagos that the exercise came at a time when the country’s economy was not favourable to the people.
He advised the government to come up with programmes that would be of benefit to the poor, and to provide alternatives for those displaced by the demolition exercise.
“To us, what will benefit the people today are pro-masses programmes aimed at getting people to work and end poverty.
“ The interests of the masses who constitute the overwhelming majority and produce the wealth of the society must always come first. This is what democracy is all about,’’ Ibuowo said.
The party chieftain said that the ongoing demolition had taken its toll on scores of people who had been left with no support from government.
He urged the government to listen to the cry of the people and act on the protest letters before the State Assembly, submitted by some of the victims and non-governmental organisations against the demolition.
The party chairman urged the government not to let the people down.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Lagos State Government in October commenced the demolition of shanties and slums in riverine areas across the state.
Some groups of affected persons, in the wake of the exercise, have staged protests at the state house of assembly, seeking the lawmakers’ intervention and suspension of the demolition.
The Lagos State House of Assembly had appealed to Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode to consider relocation of the people in some of the affected areas, so that they would not be left on the streets.
The appeal followed the presentation of a report by the Assembly’s ad hoc committee on the matter led by Mrs Adefunmilayo Tejuosho, the Chairman, House Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Petitions. (NAN)
LED/SOA
=======
Edited by Oluwole Sogunle