Boko Haram: LASG shuts visitors’ vehicles out

Hello Friends!
I sincerely believe that any measure whatsoever that would in a long run, improve on the safety of the lives and properties of Nigerians/non - Nigerians on Nigerian soil, should be welcomed and supported! Would you blame the Lagos State government for taking this step? I know that I support it fully! However, to manage the traffic status of Ikeja Lagos State, some form of alternative parking arrangements could be made by the government...

The Lagos State Government on Wednesday shut out hundreds of vehicles belonging to visitors to its secretariat and some of its workers in what its officials called “a proactive measure” against the menace of Boko Haram.

The measure, which was described as too sudden, caused hours of gridlock as roads in areas around the secretariat including Ikeja, Oregun, Agidingbi, Secretariat end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and Mobolaji Johnson Avenue were blocked with vehicles.

It was learnt that the government began a ‘no sticker, no entry’ policy for vehicles into the secretariat on Wednesday. However, it did not make adequate stickers available for its workforce.

Journalists that were assigned by their respective organisations to cover the state government were also caught unawares.

Sources at the secretariat said the stickers that were available for staff were shared on seniority basis. Most of those who got the stickers were the Permanent Secretaries, Directors and few others while the majority were left empty-handed.

To ensure compliance, officials of the Vehicle Inspection Office, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, and policemen barricaded the entrance and stopped vehicles that did not have the state government stickers from entering the secretariat. The move left hundreds of empty parking spaces inside the secretariat.

Civil servants, who refused to give their names for fear of losing their jobs, said the development added to the stress of working for the government.

One of them said, “Only few stickers were given to each ministry which did not go round. Now I have to trek from the car park the government provided outside the secretariat to my office. This is tedious.”

When our correspondent visited the car park, it was noted that the park charged N200 parking fee. It was also not enough to accommodate vehicles that wanted to park, which also compounded the gridlock.

Fashola had in February issued an Executive Order that only vehicles with new government stickers would be allowed into the secretariat because of the Boko Haram menace. He however was silent on the take off date.

Before the order, five of the seven entrances to the secretariat had been shut permanently, leaving only one entrance and one exit.

Also, three makeshift mosques in the secretariat were demolished, while Christian worshipers were ordered to relocate from the premises.

The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Aderemi Ibirogba, said government took the decision for security reasons and to make the secretariat comfortable for all.

According to him, government wants to ensure that only people who have business to do at the secretariat will be allowed entry.

He insisted that government had made a car park available for its visitors.

He said, “People just park their vehicles indiscriminately inside the secretariat. There is no parking lot at the secretariat.”

Source: PM News.

Eko Oni Baje O!

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Simply Cheska...