THE LEKKI TOIL GATE PROTEST : LCC is also a victim of the unfortunate circumstance -Yomi Omomuwasan

The Lekki Concession Company (LCC) on Thursday appealed to leaders of demonstrator planning a rally at its destroyed Admiralty Circle Toll Plaza  to be slow to go to war and to try settling things peacefully.  A group  has threatened to hold a fresh protest at the gate to begin by 7.am on Saturday, February 13, 2021.

Speaking at a news conference at its head office, LCC Managing Director, Yomi Omomuwasan, explained that the firm had refrained from commenting since the  event of October 20, 2020, because it realised that “tempers were high, and truth had become a major casualty.”

Omomuwasan said: “To set the records straight, LCC never prevented the protesting Nigerian youths from occupying our plaza before the unfortunate incident of Tuesday, October 20, 2020, even as we incurred huge losses from the forced closure of the facility by the protesters who chose to make our facility their protest ground.

“It was in a bid to halt further losses, especially given our subsisting financial commitments to local and foreign lenders, including the African Development Bank (AfDB), that we approached the Lagos Judicial Panel of Inquiry for permission to repossess our facilities.”

He added that the LCC requested the Toll gate’s return to evaluate the damage, process insurance claims, and rebuild the burnt facilities before the commencement of operations to continue to fulfil its loan repayment and other financial obligations.

“We want to place on record that we cooperated fully with the Panel and made a strong representation through our lawyers concerning the return of our assets, a request the Panel graciously granted on Saturday, February 6, 2021.

“We are distressed by the reactions the decision of the Panel has elicited from some members of the public and their resolve to again forcefully take over the already destroyed Plaza on Saturday 13, January 2021.

Omomuwasan, who appealed to well-meaning Nigerians from across the divide to sheath their swords and give peace a chance, said the LCC is “also a victim of the unfortunate circumstance, as assets worth over N2.5 billion were burnt.”

Omomuwasan noted that not returning to full operations within the shortest possible time would result in loss of jobs for the LCC’s over 500 direct staff and thousands of others across its business value chain.

“We appeal to the leaders of the protest movement to cooperate with us as we gradually restore and commence operations. To every sored heart and scared body, we at LCC ask for divine comfort and speedy healing. As we grieve together, let us find warmth in the embrace of one another with a common resolve to rebuild a better Lagos upon the ashes of our yesterday,” he said

Omomuwasan disclosed that despite the tolls not being operational since October 2020, LCC has continued to render essential services including free 24/7 emergency assistance, and vehicle breakdown and recovery services to all road users.