The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has called for the arrest and prosecution of those behind the attack on the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA)’s headquarters in Lagos State.
“We toured the H/Q today & it wasn’t a good sight. If people are arrested for the crime perpetrated, they will not do it again. We have to go after the hoodlums & ensure they pay,” the former Rivers State governor said during a tour of the facility on Sunday.
While he admitted that protests are legitimate, Amaechi condemned those who hide under the guise of demonstrations to destroy public and private properties.
“The right to protest is defined in the laws of the land, it doesn’t include burning people’s private houses and public assets that belong to every Nigerian,” he added.
He described the damage as disastrous, recalling that he had been part of protests as a student but explained that they did not take the laws into their hands during those demonstrations.
“If you remember in 1983, during the time of Babangida and Buhari, we were always on the streets as students, we never took laws into our hands and we never destroyed people’s property,” the minister said.
He said with the level of destruction, NPA should come to the cabinet and ask for funds for the reconstruction of the place.
The NPA headquarters was part of the properties attacked by hoodlums in Lagos State in the aftermath of the #EndSARS protests.
Early last month, thousands of Nigerian thronged to the streets, calling for an end to police brutality and extra-judicial killings by the now-defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
A largely peaceful demonstration in several parts of the country, however, later turned violent with arson, looting and killing of security personnel and civilians alike after it was hijacked by hoodlums.