“I have spent time to see some of the pictures of the destruction done on public properties in Lagos and I nearly shed tears,” the governor said on Thursday when he visited Sanwo-Olu to commiserate with him over the development.

In a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Lagos State Governor, Gboyega Akosile, El-Rufai was quoted as saying that “Anyone who cares about development and progress will cry after seeing what has been done to public facilities and people’s investment that provided jobs to youths.”

While the Kaduna State Governor agreed that expressing anger over issues is the right thing for people to do, he faulted the destruction of public properties, describing the recent incidents in the south-western state as a setback.

“The Government of Lagos and the Federal Government will have to re-invest scarce resources that could have been used for other things to rebuild the vandalised facilities,” the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) added during the visit to Lagos State House in Marina.

He said his Lagos counterpart did all he could to prevent the protests against police brutality from taking a violent turn, saying the gravity of the destruction is “pure evil.”

El-Rufai accused those who “thrive in violence” of infiltrating “the protest to achieve their agenda of wreaking a large-scale destruction on public assets and infrastructure in Lagos.”

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu (second right); Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai (second left), his Aides, Mr. Jimi Lawal (left) and Mr. Muyiwa Adekeye (right) during El-Rufai’s commiseration visit over the recent incident in Lagos, at the Government House, Marina, on Thursday, November 5, 2020. Photo: Lagos State Government.

Those who damaged public infrastructure, he argued, engaged in an act of “self-destruction” and would feel the repercussion of their action, assuring that “We will do whatever support Lagos needs from us to get back better.”

According to the governor, calling for the disbandment of the entire police force because of the action of a few bad eggs was out of order.

For Sanwo-Olu, his government is seeking for partnership to help in rebuilding the state and restoring the lost assets and vowed to make the commercial centre uncomfortable for those who want to destroy the state’s economy.

Despite the violence that followed the #EndSARS protest, the Lagos State Governor assured that his government is committed to getting justice for those brutalised by the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) team of the police.

He equally thanked his Kaduna counterpart for extending support towards rebuilding Lagos State, restating that his government would welcome all forms of help to restore all lost assets.