Governor Nasir El- Rufai of Kaduna State on Thursday visited Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State to commiserate with him and the residents of the state over the mayhem that followed the EndSARS protests.

El-Rufai, while speaking at Lagos House, Marina, decried the level of the destruction of public and private property in the state, describing it as “pure evil´´.

He said Sanwo-Olu did all that needed to be done to prevent the recent youth protest against police brutality from degenerating to violence.

The Kaduna governor, however, said that those who thrive in violence infiltrated the protest to achieve their agenda of wreaking a large-scale destruction on public assets and infrastructure in Lagos.

El-Rufai said Lagos, which accounted for one-third of the national GDP, “does not deserve to suffer such pain”.

According to him, the young people who carried out the violence intentionally engaged in an act of “self-destruction´´, as the repercussion of the action will be felt by them.

But those who thrive in violence, el-Rufai said, infiltrated the protest to achieve their agenda of wreaking a large-scale destruction on public assets and infrastructure in Lagos.

Governor el-Rufai shared the thoughts when he visited the State House in Marina to commiserate with his Lagos State counterpart over the coordinated arson sparked by the #EndSARS protest.

el-Rufai, who described the gravity of the destruction as “pure evil”, said he nearly shed tears as he flicked through the images of the torched Lagos assets.

The Kaduna Governor said Lagos, which accounts for one-third of national GDP, did not deserve to suffer such pain.

He said the young people who carried out the violence intentionally engaged in an act of “self-destruction”, stressing that the repercussion of the action would be felt by them.

“While expressing anger on police brutality may be right, destroying public properties, which will have to be rebuilt using money that is needed to invest in other public infrastructure, under the guise of protest is nothing but self-destruction.

“The Government of Lagos and the Federal Government will have to re-invest scarce resources that could have been used for other things to rebuild the vandalised facilities.

“I want to assure you that we will support you getting Lagos back on track.

“We will do whatever support Lagos needs from us to get back better,´´ he said.

El-Rufai said that the youth protest against the police was not out of order, but it was wrong for the protesters to call for disbandment of the entire police force because of the action of a few bad eggs.

He sympathised with the police and those who lost loved ones in Lagos in the wake of the violence.

The governor said that the Federal Government must not allow wanton destruction of public assets to happen again.

Responding, Sanwo-Olu said Lagos had started to look forward and engage in new partnerships toward restoring the lost assets.

The Lagos governor vowed to make the state uncomfortable for those who had intention to destroy the state’s economy and heritage.

Sanwo-Olu said that the state government remained committed to getting justice for those who were brutalised by the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the police.

He thanked El-Rufai for the extension of support toward rebuilding the state, welcoming all forms of assistance that could be rendered to keep businesses flourishing.

Sanwo-Olu said government was doing what it could to support those whose businesses were destroyed, and create ambience for commercial activities to get back stronger.

The Lagos Governor thanked el-Rufai for the extension of support towards rebuilding the State, welcoming all forms of assistance that could be rendered to keep the flourishing for businesses.

Sanwo-Olu, who intimated his Kaduna counterpart of steps already taken to rebuild Lagos, said the State Government was doing it could to support those whose businesses were destroyed and create ambience for commercial activities to get back stronger.