FORCE HQ BOMBING: Fashola Says Investigation Should Unravel Grouse Of Perpetrators

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Tuesday urged the Federal Government, through the on-going investigations into the recent bomb attack on the Force Headquarters, Abuja, to establish the grouse of the perpetrators as a major step toward finding lasting solution to the problem even as he insisted that violence could never achieve any meaningful purpose.

Governor Fashola, who answered questions from Aviation Correspondents at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Ikeja, on his way to Abuja, said the only way to find a lasting solution to the problem was to know the grievances of those who carried out the attack.

According to the Governor, it is still too early to come to conclusions on the matter as only investigations would reveal what the bombers’ grievances are adding that this would enable government know how to tackle their problem.

“We come to very early conclusions. I think that very extensive investigations are going on at the moment. We come to conclusions that may undermine the investigations. I think there are more questions to be asked than answers at this stage”, the Governor said pointing out that it is only the investigations that could reveal the required answers to the questions.

Noting that violence could never provide solution to any problem at any time, Governor Fashola declared, “What is the reason why people created to be free resort to violence? Is it a grievance? If it is a grievance that can be accommodated, then why resort to violence?”

“If it is a grievance that can be accommodated within the constitution of the country, government will say ‘let’s sit down and discuss’, then there will be no need for violence. But if it is a grievance that cannot be accommodated within the constitution of the country, then government will say “no, this will threaten the existence of the country. That is what happens everywhere,” Governor Fashola said.

Citing the example of the Niger Delta problem, Governor Fashola recalled that the militants demanded a larger share of the revenue from oil adding that the Government sat with them and even though some of the militants are still not out of the creeks, a kind of compromise has been arrived at.

According to Governor Fashola, another answer that would be elicited from the investigations is whether the bomber was actually a suicide bomber or that the bomb went off before he could get off the car.

Reiterating the need for patience in the face of the on-going investigations, Governor Fashola said Government was still to know what the grievances of the terrorists are adding, “If you apply wrong medication to an ailment, it will not go away.”