The Lagos State Government has warned against vandalising of public property, saying it is an act of economic sabotage.
The state’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotosho, said this while condemning the activities of vandals who wreaked havoc across the state by destroying government property, especially at motor parks and pedestrian bridges.
Speaking with Saturday Punch, Omotosho, emphasised the detrimental impacts of such crime on communities, urging residents to be vigilant and promptly report any suspicious activities to law enforcement agencies as public property were infrastructure built for the well-being and prosperity of the residents.
According to him, vandalising public property does not reflect the spirit of a true Lagosian as it was the responsibility of all to ensure that such crime was put to a halt by reporting, arresting and prosecuting suspects.
He said, “It’s very clear that if you are found vandalising government property, it is economic sabotage and it carries a very heavy weight in the face of the law. So, you will be taken to court, and then the court will make a pronouncement on you, but we usually tell people that whatever the government is doing, you should own it because if you see something as your own, most likely, you don’t want anybody to vandalise it.
“Anybody who does that knows that he is an enemy of the society and somebody who is not fit to be called a Lagosian. All true Lagosians know that you do not need to vandalise government property. We do advocacy all the time.
“We go there and use a public address system to tell them not to dash across the road but to use the bridge. So, we will continue to do that anytime the government launches a project, it always says that the project is about the people, their community, neighbourhood and that they should protect those projects and own them so that nobody can say that he or she wants to vandalise them. Unfortunately, we still find the enemies of the society who go about to vandalise government property. It is the duty of all of us to see that such nonsense is stopped by apprehending, reporting, and capturing them.”
Also, the spokesperson for the state Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, explained to Saturday PUNCH that the command had made arrests and would continue to be on the lookout for more offenders.
He warned that the command would not hesitate to arrest and further prosecute anybody found culpable of committing crimes.
