Tobias Sylvester
The management of Lekki Concession Company (LCC) said it has lost over N2.5 billion in the last four months due to the closure of the Lekki Toll Gate.
KanyiDaily recalls that the Lekki Toll Gate has been closed since last year following the alleged shooting and killing of #EndSARS protesters by soldiers and police on October 20, 2020.
But last week, the Lagos State Judicial panel probing the #EndSARS crisis voted in support of the reopening of the tollgate by the LCC.
The decision sparked an outrage and protesters trooped to the tollgate on Saturday but the police prevented them from gathering for too long.
Speaking to journalists on Monday, Managing Director of LCC, Yomi Omomuwasan, said the company is yet to determine the extent of losses as a result of stoppage of operation, the losses would not be less than N2.5bn.
He explained that the company has given the state Judicial Panel of Enquiry all the cooperation needed even though there was never a time LCC was prevented from resuming operations.
“We only agreed to work together with the panel and as soon as the forensic audit of the tollgate was concluded, we attempted to go back to the tollgate. At no time was the tollgate completely shut down.
“Why do we need to go back? Our going back into operation will not be immediate. It will take some time, not one month, maybe three months. Don’t forget our assets were completely insured and our insurance companies need to go there and assess the level of damage and the assets burnt. We will require a team of engineers because we operate electronic tolling system.
“We need proper and full assessment which I believe will take some time. We are going to do civil work, some electrical cables and so on. I am not sure it will happen within three months, that is why I said we must go back. We also have some staff that were asked to stay home, about 500 of them, 90 per cent of them are youth.”
KanyiDaily had reported how Nigerian youths protested last Saturday over the decision of the Lagos judicial panel to reopen Lekki Toll Gate.
