Oyo State government at the weekend gave a hint as to why the damaged police stations among other public infrastructures destroyed during the EndSARS protest have not been reconstructed.
The government speaking through the Executive Assistant to Governor Seyi Makinde on Security, CP Sunday Odukoya (Rtd) said the state government was stopped by a directive from the Force Headquarters that the damaged facilities would be rebuilt by the Nigerian Police.
Odukoya made the disclosure while speaking during a panel discussion at a National Youths Leadership and Security Summit 2021.
The event organised by Youths For Social Impact (YSI) in partnership with the Office of the Special Assistant to Governor Makinde on Student Affairs held at the Havanah Royal Hall, UI, Ibadan on Saturday.
The summit is themed “Youths Involvement in Nation Building and National Security.”
While responding to an enquiry on why all the damaged facilities, especially those belonging to the Police have remained in their damaged state, months after the end of the protest, Odukoya explained that the state government had initially made some effort to rebuild the police stations among other affected infrastructure but the Police authority had assured that it would take up the responsibility.
He disclosed that a high powered delegation had been sent to the state by the Police headquarters to assess the level of damage after which the police authority gave the assurance that it would fix all the damages.
He said the delegation from the Force headquarters that assessed the damage in the state was led by one CP Abutu Yaro.
Speaking further, Odukoya said the state government had replaced the four burnt police vehicles with 16 new vehicles as a show of its commitment to fixing all the damages.
It would be recalled that no fewer than six police officers were murdered in the crisis in different parts of Ibadan, the capital city. While some others suffered varying degrees of injuries, two other officers were also declared missing.
Divisional and Area Commands across Oyo State were burnt. At least five police stations were razed completely. Weapons, guns and ammunition, electronics, police uniforms, accessories among others were also reported stolen from the affected police stations.
In all, four out of the affected five stations were burnt in Ibadan, the state capital. One was also affected in Iseyin.
