• Say lives, properties guaranteed across the state
Gboyega Akinsanmi
In a move to reassure residents, the Lagos State Government on Saturday said the state was not opened to terror attacks.
Likewise, the State Police Command noted that it was always prepared not just to protect some strategic centres the groups allegedly plotted to attack, but also to secure lives and properties in the state.
The Commissioner for Information & Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, allayed residents’ fear in a phone conversation with THISDAY, saying the administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode “is working with the State Police Command and other security agencies to deter or prevent attacks against the state.”
During the conversation, Ayorinde said the state government would not succumb “to threat by any group to attack Lagos State. We are working with security agencies to protect lives and properties in the state.”
The commissioner added that the state “is not open to insurgent or terror attacks,” thereby charging all residents in the state “to go about their lawful businesses without fear and trepidation.”
He explained that the Ambode administration was built on a tripod: security, infrastructure development and wealth creation, noting that the administration had partnered all security agencies for effective public safety and order.
He assured that the state police command “is on the top of the situation. Other security agencies including the Nigeria Armed Forces are working together day and night to ensure that lives and properties are secure.”
He noted that the Ambode administration was in strategic partnership with the state police command, which he said, explained the rationale behind the procurement of security equipment valued over N4.75 billion for the state police command.
In a reaction by its Public Relation Officer, Mrs. Dolapo Badmus, the police command urged residents not to entertain fear, saying its operatives “are always in charge to guarantee security of lives and properties across the state.”
The command added that it was thinking outside the box at all time “to ensure lives are safe and properties protected. We are always prepared not just to secure some strategic places. Rather, we are on ground to protect Lagos State in its entirety. That is our mandate and we are prepared for it.”
The Department of State Services (DSS) had on Friday issued a statement in Abuja, announcing that it had uncovered a plot to bomb West Africa’s largest computer market, Computer Village in Ikeja, Lagos.
The DSS named one Chidiebere Onwudiwe, a graduate of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering and local members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as the brains behind the plot to attack strategic centres in the state.
While Onwudiwe is currently under arrest, the DSS disclosed that the suspects were working with foreign and local members of IPOD to perfect the plot.
Also, the DSS claimed it had uncovered another plot to bomb worship centres, parks and gardens during the coming Eid-el-Fitri festivity, for which the federal government had already declared Tuesday and Wednesday public holidays.
The DSS disclosed that its operatives had arrested two suspected members of the NDA linked to Government Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo) while making separate plans for the assassination of a Kaduna-based military officer and the bombing of oil and gas pipelines.
