Fashola warned Governor Peter Obi

Governor Babatunde Fashola has warned Governor Peter Obi not to incite the Igbo community against their host state as the the issue of stranded persons numbering about 70 allegedly dumped at the upper axis of Onitsha, Anambra State at about 3:20 a.m. by unknown persons, threatens to sour relationship

between Governor of Lagos State and the of Anambra state. 

The latest decision of the Lagos State Government (LASG) to remove indigent Nigerians from the streets of the economic capital of the nation and repatriate them to their perceived states of origin has raised a lot of dust.

Executed by the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) department of the state government, several trips have been undertaken, ferrying beggars and the homeless to various parts of the country.

The LASG argues that it is part of preparing the Lagos metropolis as a modern mega-city able to attract tourists and genuine business interests from all over the world.

But the Anambra State Government did not find it funny and has formally sent a powerfully worded letter of protest to President Goodluck Jonathan over the forceful and illegal dumping of bona-fide Nigerians, ‘deported’ from Lagos State, to Anambra State.

In the letter published by FOA yesterday, the Anambra state government stated that "no amount of offense committed by these people, even if deemed extremely criminal, would justify or warrant such cruel action by a State authority and in a democracy.  Even refugees are protected by the law.  Furthermore, the extant provisions of the Nigerian Constitution states: “Every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part, thereof, and no citizen shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereby or exit therefrom”.  

In his reaction, Governor Fashola warned his Anambra counterpart: 

“There is too much at stake for anyone to begin to incite the Igbo community against their host state. There is too much at stake here. It is a very dangerous and unwarranted precedent. And I hope that common sense will prevail here. Also those who are baying for blood should know that there is too much at risk here. When I get a formal complaint from the government of Anambra State or notification from the Presidency, I will lay the facts bare.

It is unfortunate that my colleague governor has made this a media issue. As I speak, I haven’t received any telephone call or letter from him to complain and I don’t thin that is the way government works. On less important matters like this, he had called me before...this is a political season and Anambra will be up for contest and in a political season, unusual things happen and perhaps we are living in an interesting times...it was regrettable when one saw issues of governance being trivialized or tried on the pages of newspaper, with all sorts of columnists writing on it"

As reported that on Wednesday, July 24, 2013, at about 3: am, about 72 people including beggars, petty traders, the aged, women and children and the physically challenged, were dumped at the same spot in Onitsha.

Before then, on 18th of September 2012, over one hundred citizens made of destitute-beggars, children, women, and the aged and the physically challenged were dumped at about 4: am under the Upper Iweka Flyover in Onitsha, Southeast Nigeria.

They were conveyed in 9 buses by unnamed agents of Lagos State Government believed to be working under the State’s Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI). Those interviewed by journalists, Red Cross officials and rights groups presented clear and horrible pictures of their ordeal in the hands of the Government of Lagos State.