Calm returned to Lagos on Tuesday as soldiers, who were deployed in the state since Monday, January 16, 2012, were withdrawn.
The soldiers and an Armoured Personnel Carrier at Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park in Ojota and those at Agege, Falomo, Agboju, Ijora Costain, Ojuelegba areas in the state had left.
Controversy had trailed the deployment of the soldiers. A number of civil society groups described the deployment as an attempt by the Presidency to frustrate and deny Lagosians their right to protest the removal of subsidy on fuel by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Governor, Babatunde Fashola, in a broadcast, urged the President to withdraw the soldiers, saying that protests in the state did not warrant such action. His call, like many others, was not heeded.
However, the Army Headquarters later claimed that the soldiers were those deployed in the state’s sponsored Operation Messa to help combat crime on the request of the state government. The claim was described as a fat lie by the government.
The state government declined comment on the withdrawal, saying that whatever comment that could be made had been made in the governor’s broadcast.
The Assistant Director of Army Public Relations, Lt. Col. Kayode Ogunsanya, said the soldiers were “withdrawn on the order of Army Headquarters.”
Some residents of the state, who spoke with one of our correspondents around the Gani Fawehinmi Park, said the presence of the soldiers was a source of panic.
They said although the soldiers were friendly, their safety could not be guaranteed under such military occupation.
One of those who spoke with our correspondent, an elderly woman selling drinks and snacks at the park, said the soldiers left at about 12am on Tuesday.
The woman, who declined to give her name, said she was parking her wares, when she saw the soldiers rushing towards a person who was blowing a whistle.
She said, “Some of the soldiers woke their colleagues who were asleep, telling them that it was time to leave. The soldiers were very friendly; we recorded higher sales when they were around here. They did not beat anybody. But we were living in fear.”
A driver in the park, who gave his name as Tunde, also said the soldiers were nice, but that it was difficult to express themselves freely in the presence of heavily armed men.
A commercial motorcycle operator, Dele, said the presence of the soldiers instilled fear in him and his colleagues.
The soldiers and an Armoured Personnel Carrier at Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park in Ojota and those at Agege, Falomo, Agboju, Ijora Costain, Ojuelegba areas in the state had left.
Controversy had trailed the deployment of the soldiers. A number of civil society groups described the deployment as an attempt by the Presidency to frustrate and deny Lagosians their right to protest the removal of subsidy on fuel by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Governor, Babatunde Fashola, in a broadcast, urged the President to withdraw the soldiers, saying that protests in the state did not warrant such action. His call, like many others, was not heeded.
However, the Army Headquarters later claimed that the soldiers were those deployed in the state’s sponsored Operation Messa to help combat crime on the request of the state government. The claim was described as a fat lie by the government.
The state government declined comment on the withdrawal, saying that whatever comment that could be made had been made in the governor’s broadcast.
The Assistant Director of Army Public Relations, Lt. Col. Kayode Ogunsanya, said the soldiers were “withdrawn on the order of Army Headquarters.”
Some residents of the state, who spoke with one of our correspondents around the Gani Fawehinmi Park, said the presence of the soldiers was a source of panic.
They said although the soldiers were friendly, their safety could not be guaranteed under such military occupation.
One of those who spoke with our correspondent, an elderly woman selling drinks and snacks at the park, said the soldiers left at about 12am on Tuesday.
The woman, who declined to give her name, said she was parking her wares, when she saw the soldiers rushing towards a person who was blowing a whistle.
She said, “Some of the soldiers woke their colleagues who were asleep, telling them that it was time to leave. The soldiers were very friendly; we recorded higher sales when they were around here. They did not beat anybody. But we were living in fear.”
A driver in the park, who gave his name as Tunde, also said the soldiers were nice, but that it was difficult to express themselves freely in the presence of heavily armed men.
A commercial motorcycle operator, Dele, said the presence of the soldiers instilled fear in him and his colleagues.
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