Eko Club Atlanta, United States of America has in its entirety strongly berated the act of sacrilege committed by hoodlums who desecrated the cultural heritage of Lagos State by invading the Palace of Ọba of Lagos.
The Club in a statement signed by its President, Mr Deji Thaani, admonished Lagos State Government and security agencies to take it as a matter of urgency to investigate and brought to book all those who contributed in the ungodly act. “The Palace, Iga Idunganran, is our ancestral seat of power and the custodian of centuries’ old priceless and irreplaceable heritage artefacts that have been passed down through generations. It is saddening and disheartening to learn that such heinous activities could be perpetrated by these miscreants and vandals, leading to wanton desecration of our traditional heritage in Lagos,” Thanni said.
Hoodlums had on Wednesday, October 21, 2020, invaded the Palace of number 1 traditional ruler in the state, cart away invaluable artefacts and set ablaze some buildings within the Palace.
“We totally frown at this attack, and we demand, immediately, that security services should be deployed to secure the Palace and the true essence of our palace traditions be restored. Thus, we urge the Lagos State government to speedily investigate the incident and apprehend whoever that is found culpable in the act, to bring them to justice as well as recover all the stolen artefacts.”
“While we understand the sufferings and impoverishment of our people including women, children and youths in Lagos and the suppression of the rights of indigenous Lagosians far and wide, we want to reiterate that the sanctity of Idunganran is our collective responsibility. As such, we ask the state government to put every mechanism in place to forestall the recurrence of such incident in future.”
The club then implores the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to continue to unify the state, provide infrastructures that will enable positive productive endeavours and show a pathway for ending all violence while promoting true hope and peaceful deliberations
