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Govt must reward business owners affected by looting –Falana

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femi Falana

Governments at national and sub-national levels must compensate business owners for losses incurred by them through looting by hoodlums, following the #EndSARS protests against police brutality, human rights activist and constitutional lawyer, Femi Falana, said on Monday.

He denounced the devastation of lives and properties in the mayhem that trailed the Lekki shootings in Lagos while attending an interview on Arise TV on Monday.

According to him, families of casualties in the protests must equally be compensated.

“While I sympathise with those who have lost goods, while I sympathise with families that have lost their loved ones, we must make a case out of what has happened.

Read also: Agbakoba, Falana, Kukah, Jega, 37 others profer solution to #EndSARS crisis

“I am talking about the development of our laws. Those who have lost goods, those who have lost properties that were not insured, should put sentiments apart, don’t say because the government in Abuja is our party, no, the law has left that stage,” he said.

He noted that every Nigerian has right to protection of life and property and that government must pay for loss arising from negligence through lack of proper policing.

“I am not talking about humanitarian assistance. As a matter of law, if anybody dies in the process, the family members have rights to make a claim and we have cases where this has been decided by our courts.

“So, let nobody in Abuja say these properties in Abuja were destroyed by hoodlums, it will never happen again. No; you have a duty to compensate those who have lost their properties, you have a duty to compensate those who have lost their breadwinners and potential breadwinners so that next time, the government will have to take measures to prevent this kind of unfortunate incidents,” Mr Falana said.

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