- IG recommends LSSTF for other states
Gboyega Akinsanmi
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, wednesday said pipeline vandals, oil thieves and militants, whose activities had claimed several lives and dislodged hundreds from their homes in the riverine communities in the state, would no more find safe havens in Lagos creeks.
The governor added that if it would require shutting down some locations where the criminals “are operating in terms of any commercial trade,” the state government would not hesitate go by the option in order to guarantee the safety of lives and properties in the state.
He expressed strong will to keep oil criminals off Lagos creeks at a meeting with the Acting Inspector General of Police (IG), Mr. Idris Kpotun Ibrahim at Lagos House, Alausa wednesday.
Also at the meeting are Deputy Inspector General of Police (South-west), Mr. Foluso Adebanjo; Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operation, Force Headquarters), Mr. Habila Jushak and Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, among others.
Alongside the Deputy Governor, Dr. Oluranti Adebule, the governor said he had been briefed on the fight against the militants and vandals in Lagos creeks, which he said, had already dislodged them.
He added that the state embarked on Operation Awase in the last one week, saying the operation was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said: “We need to sustain and ensure that these people do not ever go back to the creeks. On our part as a government, we will do whatever we can do to take the militants and vandals off Lagos.
“If it means shutting down some locations where they are operating in terms of any commercial trade, we will do it and make sure that we guarantee safety of lives and properties.
“We will also provide all necessary support to security agencies to sustain the success we have had in the last few days, we will also do it. You have worked in Lagos before. The Lagos of then and now is different. The population is over 22 million. The land space is not expanding.”
Ambode, therefore, lamented the ration of police officers serving in the state to its population, noting that the ratio was too wide and could not guarantee effective public order and safety.
He urged the inspector-general “to deploy more police officers to the state. We have space for them. We can build more police stations. We have reduced crime in Lagos by about 70 percent in the last six months.”
He observed that some ugly points on the waterways of the state “have been a source of concern. So, we want to partner with you to say that we want to keep our waterways safe by partnering with you. We need a greater presence of marine police along our waterways.”
Ambode pledged to give all necessary support, assuring that the state government “can even support them by supplying gunboats. We will take care of proper welfare of police officers assigned to Lagos.
Also speaking, the IG who said he was in Lagos to visit some Police formations in the state commended the state government’s support and cooperation to the police and other security agencies in recent time.
He said the synergy between security agencies and the Lagos State Government “is worth emulating. The Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF) is a model that other states of the federation can take a cue from.
“When I was Commissioner of Police in Kano State, we had to travel to Lagos to understudy the Security Trust Fund. So it has served as a model for other states in the federation,” the IG said.
