Fashola Raises Alarm Over Abandoned 17-Storey Building

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State has raised an alarm over an abandoned 17-storey building at Okokomaiko area of Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria where criminals hide and perpetrate nefarious activities.

P.M.NEWS had last month drew the attention of the public to the abandoned 17-storey building located in Oto-Awori Local Council Development Area, LCDA where criminals rape, kill victims and share their loot.

Speaking at the 6th Town Hall Meeting on Security in Lagos, Fashola lamented that there were lots of Federal Government properties that had been abandoned in the state, which now serve as hideouts for armed robbers, hoodlums, among others.

“There are a number of abandoned offices and houses all over Lagos resulting from the movement of federal agencies to Abuja.

“These buildings attract criminals and miscreants who use them as hideouts for planning criminal activities and sharing their ill-gotten loot,” he stated.

Fashola said an example of this was the 17-storey building abandoned in the 70s by the federal government, which now serves as abode for criminals, saying that the police had raided the place and made arrests.

His words: “An example is a 17-storey building abandoned since the 70s by the federal government in the Okokomaiko area of Badagry Expressway, which has become a hideout for criminals who terrorise residents of the area.

“The security agencies have conducted a number of joint raids on the property but as long as it remains standing and unutilized, it will always attract criminal elements and remain a constant security issue,” Fashola warned.

The governor added that analysis of suspects arrested for criminal acts had revealed that majority of the crimes were committed by people from other parts of the country, saying these were non-residents who came to Lagos to rob or kidnap and then flee back to their hideouts outside the state to share the loot and plot anew.

“A random sampling of crime investigation statistics for the month of September 2012 illustrates my point.

“Of the 183 suspects arrested for the offences of robbery and kidnapping, the figures showed that 22 of the suspects were from Ogun State, 13 from Anambra, nine from Oyo, another nine from Edo, five from Imo, six from Lagos, four each from Ondo and Delta, two each from Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi and one each from Rivers, Osun, Kwara, Borno and Kogi States.

“In recent times, the role of Lagos as a mother state in Nigeria has again come to the fore, as a lot of people have relocated to Lagos to escape the effects of the spate of terrorist attacks in some part of the country, as well as the rise of unprecedented environmental disasters in some states in Nigeria.

“Unfortunately, some of these refugees are of evil intent. Also because of the intense activity of the JTF in some northern and south-south states, the ideologues have stayed to take them on but the professional criminals have moved, seeking softer targets. Our job is to see to it that we are not one of those softer targets,” he stated.

The governor urged all to remain security conscious, especially in the Christmas and New Year seasons. “We will remain resolute in our quest for greater security and we urge you all as worthy partners not to relent in your contributions to our com mon cause,” he stated.

—Kazeem Ugbodaga