EIGHT days after Lagos residents awoke to find its streets blanketed by soldiers on the orders of a jittery federal government, the soldiers were summarily withdrawn on the orders of the same federal government on Tuesday.
The soldiers, who had been deployed specifically around the the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park in Ojota, Agege and Ketu, amongst other popular locations around the Lagos Metro, had been ordered on the streets on January 16, following growing massive protests that greeted the January 1st announcement of the removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government.
Brandishing menacing weapons, military security personnel on foot and in brand-new armored vehicles patrolled Lagos, preventing people from moving towards protest sites or gathering there.
Peace eventually returned to the states as protesters decided to go about their various daily chores.
The drafting of armed soldiers on the streets of Lagos offended many residents who saw it as misuse of power on the part of a federal government by ignoring the powers of the elected Chief Security Officer of Lagos in the person of Governor Babatunde R. Fashola.
Later, the federal Minister of Defense, Bello Mohammed, had confirmed that they were deployed by the Federal Government and would stay for a long time, the Defence Headquarters said they were on the streets at the instance of the Lagos state government.
The Lagos State issued a swift denial of Mr. Mohammed’s statement, asking the minister and the federal government to show proof of any such request.