LAGOS State government, on Monday, promised to unearth issues surrounding the military rage on Ikorodu road, which led to the destruction of several BRT buses, as well as the death of the soldier that precipitated the crisis.
Governor Babatunde Fashola inaugurated a tribunal of inquiry, on Monday, with a mandate that covers the crisis and how to prevent a future occurrence.
A statement issued by governor’s spokesperson, Hakeem Bello, read “Desirous of getting to the root of the recent face-off between men of the Armed Forces and a BRT driver on the accident on Ikorodu Road, in which a soldier lost his life, Governor Fashola, on Monday, inaugurated a tribunal of enquiry on the accident and subsequent arson and destruction of the BRT buses, charging the tribunal to unravel the real and remote causes of the action.”
The governor, at the Conference Room of the Lagos House, Ikeja, added that it was deeply regrettable that the incident led to the death of a soldier and loss of valuables in the aftermath.
He tasked the tribunal to inquire into whether the act was committed by soldiers and if they did not, who did it and also unravel how and why the military officer died and what killed him, as well as investigate what could have been done to avoid the accident.
Fashola, who described the Nigeria Army as a symbol of strength that has helped in many conflict regions in Africa with their imprimatur being felt in areas like former Rhodesia Zimbabwe, Liberia and Sierra Leone, among others, regretted, however, that at the home front, some members of the Army institution had diminished its reputation.
He said Nigeria might prove the pundits right “if it fails to do what is right,” recalling that the Ancient Rome failed despite the fact that it gave the world the Common Law, but ended up turning its back on the law.
He expressed the optimism that the tribunal, headed by a retired Judge of the Lagos High Court, Justice Ebenezer Adebajo, would be able to conclude its assignment within the 60 days set aside for it.
Source: Tribune
