The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) this afternoon alleged that the federal government is training hoodlums to be unleashed on the state but threatened fire and brimstone if the alleged plot is implemented.

The party warned that “any attempt to compromise the present security of lives and property being enjoyed by Lagosians will meet with stiff resistance by both the government and people of Lagos State.” It said the warning became necessary “in view of the reported training of some people by the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) under the guise of policing federal roads in Lagos.”

In a release in Lagos, signed by the Lagos State Interim Publicity Secretary of the APC, Joe Igbokwe, the party said that “neither the party nor Lagosians are fooled by the antics of those behind the training of youths in Lagos on the purported excuse of protecting the dilapidated federal roads in Lagos.” It warned that “the government and Lagosians are ready to deal with the instigated mischief behind these training and will mobilise Lagosians to resist any effort to compromise the enviable peace and security ambience in Lagos by desperate politicians.”

The statement said: “For the avoidance of doubts, there are only about 200 federal roads of the more than 10,000 roads in Lagos. These federal roads are so ill maintained and so dilapidated that the Lagos State government, since 1999 has taken over the reconstruction and maintenance of some of these roads for the economic benefit of Nigerians. We want to alert Nigerians that FERMA is supposed to be intervention agency under the Federal Ministry of Works, saddled with the responsibility of maintaining federal roads in Nigeria. We want to also alert Nigerians that the incapacity of FERMA and its failure is advertised in the poor condition of federal roads all over the country. We also wish to remind Nigerians that FERMA had always explained its failure to maintain Nigerian roads to paucity of resources.

“We therefore wonder where FERMA sourced the huge funds to form an extra legal police for federal roads in Lagos. We wonder where they got the huge resources to recruit and train youths for the unexplained purpose of visiting mayhem and breach of law and order in Lagos. We wonder what the enabling laws were for this illegal police. We wonder what is special about federal roads that need this type of policing when federal roads all over the country are in very poor shape and travelers agonize over their bad state. We wonder why only Lagos is targeted for this nebulous arrangement if not for the purpose of visiting mayhem and breakdown of law and order on a state that has proved unconquerable to the political manipulators behind the present illegal contraption. We have the police, customs, Federal Road Safety Commission and many other groups policing the already over-policed but dilapidated federal roads in Lagos. We wonder why the need to create an extra illegal body if not to veil the political ends for which it is being contracted.

“We recall that this dangerous plot to launder hoodlums on Lagos roads has been tried in the past, when Adeseye Ogunlewe was the Minister of Works. It was then that FERMA was created and it recruited hoodlums to launch mayhem in Lagos, in the same guise of policing federal roads in Lagos. We recall that they were created to ensure that Lagos is made insecure and ungovernable and possibly prepare a possible take over of Lagos by the PDP in 2007. We recall the bloodletting, the security disruptions and the many infractions that the hoodlums visited in Lagos and that countless lives were lost. We recall that the outrage of Lagosians over this devious ploy was so tremendous that it led to a devastating defeat for the PDP in 2007 and thereafter, the scheme was dropped. We wonder why the same PDP has to resurrect this dangerous scheme just because 2015 is in the corner and the PDP has woefully failed the test of governance in fifteen years of arid leadership.

“While we want to let those planning such atrocious project for Lagos that we have been through this mischievous route before and that Lagosians will not tolerate any effort to sponsor mayhem and violence in Lagos and violate its envious security which Lagosians have been enjoying for some time now. We see any attempt to breed political thugs and hoodlums under the guise of training people to police Lagos roads as a direct attempt to compromise the security of lives and property of Lagos. We warn that Lagosians are sophisticated enough to know when any issue affects them and will resist any move to muddle their security on the altars of selfish and cheap politics.

“Lagos APC is calling on the National Assembly to track and act on this deliberate breach of law and the security of Nigerian citizens before it becomes late. We are using this to draw attention of all Nigerians to this hideous plan, which stands to throw Nigeria’s safest state into protracted security turmoil. We urge Lagosians to remain vigilant and ensure they resist any efforts to use this illegal police to harass and intimidate them. We urge Lagosians to report any incidence of security breach and violation to the police and other law enforcement agencies for possible actions. We urge Lagosians to be vigilant and monitor the situation as we hope that reason will prevail in the long run.”

•Photo shows Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola.

Update news