NIGERIA: Cross Riverians Protest in Lagos, Say Our Liaison Office Not For Sale! By CrossRiverWatch Admin.. Indigenes of Cross River State leaving in Lagos under the auspices of the Cross River State Indigenes Forum and the Conference of Cross River State Professionals today made real their threat to protest the alleged plan by the state government to sell the state liaison office at Club Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. The protest which was scheduled to begin by 12noon could not start till 12:30pm as members continued to trickle into No. 6 club road, Ikoyi venue from their various locations in Lagos. Protesters bearing placards with different inscriptions began chanting solidarity songs at 12:30pm while policemen from the neighboring Ikoyi Police Station kept close watch. Led by the Chairman of the Indigenes Forum, Obol, Dr. Emmanuel Ebri, the protesters warned intending buyers to stay off the Cross River State liaison office and any other property owned by the state in Lagos as none of them is up for sale. Some of the placards bore inscriptions like ‘Cross River Liaison Office Not For Sale’, ‘Stop Selling Our Properties’, ‘This Property is Not For Sale, Buyers Beware’, ‘This is Tax Payers Money, Not Personal Property, Stay Off.’ While speaking to CrossRiverWatch, Obol Emmanuel Ebri said: “It is a good thing that government is denying that they don’t want to sell this place. That was how Donald kept denying he did not want to sell our original liaison office at Victoria Island until one day we were all asked to vacate because we used to meet there. “We also had been hearing it like rumor that they want to sell this place now until we made contacts with the estate agent that the state has engaged to sell the place. We have our facts with which we are convinced that government wants to sell this place and we want to say that we will not allow that to happen again because this is tax payers’ money. We have lost a sprawling property in VI to Donald Duke we cannot lose this one again. This one that is a boys quarters compared to the one that was sold. Convener of the Conference of Cross River State Professionals, Mr. Effiong Nyong also told CrossRiverWatch at the venue of the protest that: “We want to warn any intending buyer, even if it is the governor or any of his cronies that Cross Riverians in Lagos will make that place uncomfortable and inhabitable for whoever buys it. That is our property and we have a right to ask questions about every move government want to make about it. I am sure no one will want to buy a contentious property. The signs should be clear now to whoever is intending to corner public property that this time around he or she will have to contend with the vigilant people of Cross River State. “If government is denying that they don’t want to sell the property, we challenge them to go after the estate agent that has been bringing prospective buyers to the premises for inspection. We have given government t and the general public his identity already. Government should look for the person and prosecute him if their denials are to be taken seriously. We will continue to monitor the situation and ensure that we do everything within the ambit of the law to stop a repeat of what Donald did to us in Oluyole street.” He said. follow us on twitter @crossriverwatch
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 16:18:59 +0000
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