Lekki Toll Gate Closure: Thousands of jobs may be lost- LCC

The Lekki Concession Company (LCC) has begged protesters to stage another protest at its dToll Plaza to give peace a chance.
Speaking at a Press Conference at its head office Managing Director of the LCC, Yomi Omomuwasan, explained that the company had refused to speak sincere the event of October 20, 2020, because “tempers were high, and truth had become a major casualty.”
The MD why lamenting that another protests want to be held at the Toll Gate, said that it  empathised with individuals and businesses that suffered losses,
Acccording to him, the management of LCC approached the Judicial Panel of Inquiry to return the Tollgate so as to stem its losses.
Omomuwasan said: “To set the records straight, LCC never prevented the protesting Nigerian youths from occupying our plaza before the unfortunate incident of Tuesday, October 20, 2020, even as we incurred huge losses from the forced closure of the facility by the protesters who chose to make our facility their protest ground.
“It was in a bid to halt further losses, especially given our subsisting financial commitments to local and foreign lenders, including the African Development Bank (AfDB), that we approached the Lagos Judicial Panel of Inquiry for permission to repossess our facilities.”
He added that the LCC wants the Toll gate to be re-opened so as to evaluate the damages, process and insurance claims, .
“We want to place on record that we cooperated fully with the Panel and made a strong representation through our lawyers concerning the return of our assets, a request the Panel graciously granted on Saturday, February 6, 2021.
“We are distressed by the reactions the decision of the Panel has elicited from some members of the public and their resolve to again forcefully take over the already destroyed Plaza on Saturday 13, January 2021.”
The MD,, said the LCC is also a victim of the unfortunate circumstance, calling for a peaceful resolution.
LCC, he saud “had nothing to do with the protest against police brutality, which was the central point of the youth agitation. As an organisation, we were unlucky to have been caught in the web,”
Omomuwasan raised alarm that not reopening  of the Toll Gate within the shortest possible time would result in loss of jobs for the LCC’s over 500 staff and thousands of others across its value chain.
“We appeal to the leaders of the protest movement to cooperate with us as we gradually restore and commence operations. To every sored heart and scared body, we at LCC ask for divine comfort and speedy healing. As we grieve together, let us find warmth in the embrace of one another with a common resolve to rebuild a better Lagos upon the ashes of our yesterday,” he said