Chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum and Governor of Kebbi State Abubakar Atiku Bagudu on Tuesday 17th November 2020 led some Governors of the APC on a solidarity visit to Plateau State to commiserate with the Government over the looting and destruction of public and private properties by hoodlums who hijacked the ENDSARS protests.
Governor Bagudu who was accompanied by his colleagues from Yobe, Mai Mala Buni and Jigawa, Abubakar Badaru, said their visit was to express sympathy with Governor Lalong over the unfortunate events that led to the destruction of properties worth billions of naira.
He said though the protests were legitimate and supported, criminals hijacked the agitation to perpetrate crimes under the guise of searching for palliatives. He maintained that Governors did not hoard any palliatives as wrongly insinuated.
The Progressives Chairman said “we have the best interest of our youths at heart and believe that without empowering them, development will be difficult to achieve. That is why the APC Government right from the Federal to the States continue to roll out empowerment initiatives that will build the capacity of the youths and make them productive. We shall continue to engage and dialogue with them in enhancing their well-being so as to address restiveness”.
A statement issue by Dr. Makut Simon Macham, Director of Press & Public Affairs, said Governor Lalong thanked them for the solidarity and goodwill over the unfortunate incident.
He said the destruction has taken the State back as some of the properties looted, vandalised and destroyed were sources of job creation and industrialisation.
He told the delegation that over 31 public and private properties were affected with losses estimated at over 75 billion naira which will be difficult to restore.
He said already, he has engaged the youths and other stakeholders after the incident to ensure that there is no repeat of such incident.
The Governors later proceeded to Lagos for a similar visit to Lagos State Government.
