A group of Lagos State Indigenes, Omo Eko Pataki has called on the Lagos State Governor to scrap the two Toll Gates at Lekki Area of Lagos, saying if it is reopened, it will sue the Lagos State Government.
Addressing a press conference titled: ‘The Toll Gates: Tinubu’s Dangerous Gambit’ in Lagos at the weekend, the Chairman of Omo Eko Pataki, Chief Bode George, said the “dumb idea to bring back the Toll Gates on that very hallowed grounds, where patriots fell is tantamount to an egregious provocation. It is a combustible material, a seed of discord that will bring nobody any good.”
George said Omo Eko Pataki will carry out all legal means, including a resort to the court of laws, to stop the reopening of the two Toll Gates, saying that, they will be ready to pursue the legal course to the Supreme court.
“It is rather sad and sickening, in this time of grave moral challenges, when the ordinary Lagosian can hardly find three square meals a day; when the commuters cannot afford the fare of transportation; when parents cannot afford the sky-rocketing school fees for their children; when the ordinary tenants can hardly pay their annual rent – Behold! Behold! Behold! this is the unsavoury time that the government of Lagos state has chosen to impose more burden on the average Lagosian. They want to bring the toll gates back!
“It is cruel, insensitive, vicious, totally unacceptable. It is misgovernance of the worst scale.
“This action, which is obviously sanctioned by Bola Tinubu to source money for his moribund presidential ambition, does not portray an enlightened leadership. It does not exemplify a selfless shepherding. It does not equate to an exemplary reference of salvaging truth.
“It does not reflect a conscionable concern of an elected leadership. Tinubu and his cronies govern without the sobering tact and wisdom of genuine democrats”, George said.
George said “Lagosians have awoken. Barely two years when they mowed down innocent youths at the Lekki Toll Gates, when innocent you men and women, shed their blood for the unity of this nation. Tinubu through his surrogate and his illogic has decided to bring back the toll gates. It is a bad hasty decision at a very bad time
“We, at Omo Eko Pataki – will ensure – through all legitimate, legal and valid means- that the truth prevails, that righteousness is validated; the majesty of the light is brightened across our state.
“We seek no fight with anyone, but justice. We seek no quarrel with anyone, but the truth. We seek no engagement with anyone, but the accommodation of what is right, and what is just.
“Our appeal is to the greater input of humankind. We do not ask for mercy; we ask for justice. We do not ask for help; we ask for justice. We do not ask for beggarly pleas; we ask for what is right”
He further said that: “We remain non-partisan as Omo Eko Pataki. We hold adherence to no group or sectarian bias. We are free-born Lagosians, who hold the heritage of our state as sacrosanct and inviolable.
Revealing the resolutions of Lagos Indigenes, George said “These are our resolutions: The two Toll gates should be scrapped, dismantled outright; A befitting memorial should be erected in lasting permanence about the patriots who lost their lives on October 20/21; The Lagos state government should pay necessary compensation to the families of the deceased; October 20/2020 should henceforth be declared as patriot’s day in eternal remembrance of the Endsars heroes.”
“We are not afraid of a good fight. We will not stop. We will never yield. We will never rest until justice prevails upon our ancestral soil. May the good Lord help us all. Amen.”