Azazi: Fashola Asked For Soldiers

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER (NSA), GENERAL ANDREW OWOYE AZAZI (RTD) WITH AIRPORT CORRESPONDENTS AT PRESIDENTIAL WING OF MURTALA MUHAMMED AIRPORT, IKEJA, LAGOS ON JANUARY 20, 2012.

SAN FRANCISCO, January 21, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s National Security Adviser (NSA), General Owoye Azazi (rtd), Friday repeated the federal government’s claim that the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, wrote to the federal government to request that troops be deployed to Lagos to help beef up security.

Azazi said Fashola’s request was made via a letter in 2010, where the Governor said the troops would boost police efforts in securing the state, adding that Fashola assured that the State would take charge of the soldiers’ welfare and also provide them military hardware.

The NSA made the revelations in a chat with airport correspondents at the Presidential Wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Ikeja.

“Is this the first time that soldiers would be deployed to Lagos? Let’s be frank with ourselves. In 2010, Fashola wrote a letter that he wanted soldiers to join patrol with the police; he pays and funds them till tomorrow. So, if the police find out that they needed more soldiers to assist them and they requested more, what is wrong with that?

“The troops have been there for a long time. It doesn’t matter how many of them are in Lagos now. Look, if a governor has made request for troops to be deployed to an environment, they would come. For those of us who have been in Lagos for a long time, the governor requested the troops to be deployed to Lagos in 2010,” Azazi added.

Meanwhile, THEWILL has obtained a copy of the letter Fashola wrote to President Goodluck Jonathan a few days ago, requesting that soldiers be withdrawn from the streets of Lagos.