The headquarters of Chisco Transport Limited in Lagos, was burnt down. About 18 vehicles were destroyed. The incident took place when some hoodlums saw a billboard of President Jonathan hanging in a compound next to Chisco’s. They threw petrol bomb into the premises of the transport company in apparent protest against President Goodluck Jonathan’s poster.
According to a witness, who identified himself as Ebuka, “it was when the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign train was passing during their political rally along Eko Bridge that some hoodlums took advantage of the rally to throw objects into the premises of the company when they saw President Jonathan’s billboard hung on the uncompleted building beside Chisco Head Office, thinking the premises belongs to the Federal Government.”
The building harbouring Jonathan’s billboard belongs to the Industrial Training Fund, ITF, a federal government agency sharing a common fence with the leading transport company. Unfortunately for the transport company, it did not insure its premises but had only third party insurance for its vehicles.
According to the CEO, Chidi Anyaegbu, Babatunde Fashola, the Lagos State governor, visited the premises on Thursday, February 19, to sympathise with the company. Anyaegbu said further that President Goodluck Jonathan, who was on a two-day working visit to Lagos, wanted to visit the transport company but “I asked him not to come that I would handle the situation because I didn’t want to politicise what happened and cause more problem for myself in the future and my business empire in Lagos, where I have lived in the last 39 years.”
Anyaegbu said although the president reacted to the incident in a statement released saying “I was surprised when the owner of Chisco, the company that runs transport business between Lagos and the South East told me that 18 of his luxury buses were burnt down in Lagos by youths of a rival party because my billboard was close to his facility.
“Is that the kind of people that want to take over the running of this country? Is this country going to be managed by people with that kind of background? I was shocked when I heard that Chisco buses were burnt”.
When Anyaegbu was asked if there was any form of compensation both from the Federal and State governments, he stated that “I would like to keep that to myself and that is between me and the government. Like I said earlier, I wouldn’t want to publicise this any longer, the situation would be taken care of and if there is any need for you to know if there is/was any form of compensation, when the time comes you will definitely know.”
An employee of the transport company, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the damage could have been worse if not for the quick intervention of some employees of the company who sprang into action to salvage the situation when they noticed the fire. The workers were said to have used the fire-extinguishers available in the premises to assist fire fighters from both the state and Federal Fire Service to put off the fire.
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