The role of the new Federal task force in Lagos has sparked renewed face-off between the ruling All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party.

They are noticeable around the old tollgate area along Lagos-Ibadan expressway. Clad in black shirts with the inscription, FERCSARA, they are young men and women working with the Federal Roads Committee on Surveillance and Action against Roadside Trading and other Forms of Road Abuse. You cannot but notice them performing some form of exercise and training every morning. Although not armed, FERCSARA, a federal task force, has been branded as thugs of the Peoples Democratic Party by the All Progressives Congress-led Lagos State Government.

The PDP has made it clear that it will win Lagos in 2015. A good number of agencies such as the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Kick Against Indiscipline, Rapid Response Squad, Lagos State task force are being run by the APC-led Lagos State Government. These agencies are seen by politicians especially as a platform to mobilise the electorate. It appears the PDP is set to exploit this platform in the bid to neutralise the control of Lagos State government over the electorate hence the formation of the new taskforce.

According to the Federal Government, the reason for creating the task force is not to combat the APC but to create jobs for many Nigerian youths through the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme otherwise known as SURE-P. Political observers, however, predicted that although in theory, the federal task force is neutral, it would almost be impossible for it to exist side by side with Lagos state agencies.

Also, the APC has been quick to point out that the coordinator of the federal task force, Mr. Abdurazak Rafiu, popularly known as Otolorin, defected from the former Action Congress of Nigeria (now part of the APC) to the PDP and therefore has an ulterior motive for running the taskforce.

Expectedly, a few weeks after it began full operation, over 200 officials of the federal task force were arrested by the Lagos State task force on Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences in their training ground at the old Lagos tollgate and taken to the headquarters of the Lagos State Police Command in Ikeja. According to the Lagos State taskforce led by a Chief Superintendent of Police, Bayo Sulaiman, officials of the Lagos task force tried to arrest a vehicle plying the BRT lane at Ketu area but the driver diverted the vehicle into the premises of the federal taskforce at the old tollgate. He said in the process of trying to get the vehicle back, officials of the federal task force allegedly mobilised and attacked the policemen with planks and bottles, inflicting injuries on them.

The Commissioner for Information, Lateef Ibirogba, immediately released a statement saying, “The police intercepted a strange group of usurpers posing as traffic officials on Lagos roads. Dressed in grey and black uniforms, the group, numbering about 35, invaded Lagos roads in Ojota, Tollgate and Ikorodu Road at about 7am, causing confusion on the roads in their attempt to take over the job of LASTMA.”

In his reaction, the National Publicity Director, SURE-P/FERMA task force, Mr. Olawale Oyeboh, said LASTMA had no business being on Federal Government roads and warned the agency to stay off. He further stated that his men were not working for the PDP to destabilise Lagos State in view of the coming elections.

According to Oyeboh, the presence of the federal task force men on the federal roads falls under the jurisdiction of the agencies as backed by the laws which established them. Contrary to the accusation that the federal agencies had hijacked the functions of LASTMA, Oyeboh declared that the Lagos State government agency had no business being on the federal roads. He said, “How can political thugs be groomed by the Federal Government? They are only feeling intimidated by their selfish interest and Lagosians are tired of their exploitation.

“It is an empowerment programme by the Federal Government for the youth to work on the federal roads which is our jurisdiction. The LASTMA are Lagos agents and cannot be on federal roads but state roads.”

Oyeboh, who insisted that the arrest of his men was uncalled for said, “The aggression was planned, they came fully prepared. Before we knew what was happening, policemen had started firing into the air, while others fired teargas canisters into our compound, giving way for the thugs to loot our office.”

The incident, according to pundits, is a repeat of the feud between former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; and a former Minister of Works, Adeseye Ogunlewe in which the latter deployed task force officials to federal roads and warned LASTMA and other state officials to keep off. Lives were lost while properties destroyed. Although the federal task force claims to be apolitical, its involvement in the PDP rally that held a few days ago at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, Ojota, stirred a fresh set of allegations by the APC.

The federal task force officials were seen providing security for all the PDP governorship aspirants and leaders that were present at the rally. In fact, they constituted a large number of the crowd that cheered Ekiti State Governor-elect, Mr. Ayo Fayose, who came to campaign for the PDP and advised the Lagos PDP governorship aspirants on how to wrest Lagos State from the APC.

According to an anonymous source within the APC, the federal task force will not only be used as thugs next year but “may be given army uniforms and pose as soldiers manning the various polling units.”

The Publicity Secretary of the APC in Lagos, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, told our correspondent during an interview that by setting up a parallel task force in Lagos State, the PDP was provoking a possible bloodshed ahead of 2015. He said the presence of the taskforce officials at the PDP rally last Friday confirmed allegations that the task force was set up to fight the cause of the PDP.

He said, “We have been talking about this task force and their role in next year’s election. They have even had confrontations with KAI and LASTMA and we saw it coming. Their presence at the PDP rally is evidence for our claims. They are part of the PDP’s plan to capture Lagos. We have let them know it might cause confusion and bloodshed in Lagos and we have informed the Federal Government. The governor has raised the alarm. The whole thing is similar to what Ogunlewe did during the Tinubu administration. He brought them under FERMA and people were killed and maimed while properties were destroyed. This new task force is just for 2015. But Lagosians will not be deceived.

“If the PDP does not disband those hoodlums, there will be trouble. They will meet force with force in Lagos like when Ogunlewe was there. The task force hoodlums are increasing in number every day. I pity the youths that are being used by the PDP.”

Igbokwe said the intention of the taskforce was also suspect because it was only operating in Lagos. He said the APC was aware that the task force was also working personally for PDP leaders as domestic servants at their homes.

However, the PDP’s Publicity Secretary in Lagos, Mr. Taofik Gani, said the APC was making baseless accusations because it knew that its days were numbered in Lagos. Gani, who admitted that the taskforce officials were part of the PDP rally, said the task force had freedom of association and did nothing wrong by being at the rally.

Gani said, “The APC in Lagos is acting like a drowning man and they will be desperate to hold on to anything and we expect more blackmail as elections approach. I will not be categorical as to whether a group has sympathy for the PDP or not. However, we are surprised that the APC-led government in Lagos, which has the highest number of uniformed personnel, would make such accusations. They have LASTMA, KAI, Neighbourhood Watch, Boy’s Scouts, Man ‘O’ War and others. The task force did not carry banners at the rally. That they were at the rally does not mean they are PDP supporters. However, there is freedom of association as long as they are working within the confines of the law. We have been put on alert by the threat of the APC. We are, however, concerned that the APC is seeing the recruitment of unemployed youths into the taskforce as political. Why can’t they ever see anything good in government policy? It is an employment opportunity for our youths.”

The head of the task force, Abdulrazaq Rafiu, said the task force would not be intimidated by the threats of the APC. Rafiu described the APC as a group of bad politicians, adding that instead of the state government to commend the Federal Government for employing Lagosians, it was playing politics. He said, “Yes, they (task force) were at the rally but they were not there for the PDP. They went to maintain order just like every other civil agency like the police, FRSC and NSCDC. The APC has plundered all the resources of Lagos State and there is a high rate of unemployment in the state. Unemployment leads to crime and the Federal Government then decided to help out by creating jobs for the youths but the APC state government is not mindful of this fact.

“The APC are jittery because of the Ekiti loss. I was a member of the APC before but I left because of the bad people in the party. The task force’s area of responsibility is limited to Federal Government roads and they are not disturbing anybody and yet they were arrested and harassed by the state government. If the APC tries anything funny for a second time, we are ready for them. The last time that the task force officials were arrested, they willingly gave themselves in because the police were involved and our people respected the police. But if the APC wants to try it again, they will not find it easy.”