Fashola sets up panel to probe soldiers’ misconduct in Lagos

From Akilani Abdullah, Lagos

Lagos state Governor, Babatunde  Fashola  yesterday constituted a tribunal of enquiry on the July 4  soldiers misconduct that lead to burning of  Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) buses on Ikorodu Road and the attendant mayhem.

The three –man panel is chaired by Justice Ebenezer Adebajo, a retired High Court Judge and has Mr. Nurudeen Ogbara,a lawyer  and Mr Jude Igbanoi , the Deputy Law Editor of  ThisDay newspapers as members.

They are to investigate the cause(s) of the accident and how the victim died, ascertain the actual  perpetrators of the mayhem and submit its findings to the government within 60 days.

The knocking down of the soldier from his motorcycle recently provoked rampaging protests around the scene and resulted into the burning of no fewer than six BRT buses by suspected colleagues of the victim.

Authorities of the Nigerian Army however said its officers were not responsible for the violence, blaming it on opportunistic hoodlums around the scene.

Inaugurating the tribunal, Fashola described the incident as regrettable especially as it resulted into the loss of life and destruction of properties.

He charged the tribunal to do its work without let or hindrance, especially as there were reports that the mayhem was actually caused by soldiers.

 Fashola  described the Army as a profession of disciplined and noble men,  but said there were bad eggs in the profession,  who were giving the Army a bad name.

“Societies and institution will fail, if men and women fail to do nothing. Like the Nigerian Airways, which was the symbol of our pride in 1973 the Nigerian Army was also a symbol of pride to this nation.

“The job of the tribunal is to find out what happened.; how the soldier died, what killed him. And what could have been done to avoid the kind of accident that took his life. This and many others are the question that I hope that I hope this tribunal  will help unravel and explain to Nigerians”, he said.