Lagos CP Expresses Commitment to Fight Cultism, Kidnapping, Traffic Robbery

Sunday Ehigiator

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Adegoke Fayoade, has assured residents of the state that one of his major agendas is to fight cultism, traffic robbery and kidnapping among other crimes in the state.

He noted that the state Police Command is aimed at ensuring that the economic activities and standard of living are improved in the state, “because a crime-free environment will make the state buoyant.”

He gave the assurance while addressing crime journalists under the umbrella of Crime Reporters’ Association of Nigeria (CRAN).

Fayoade stated that in a bid to curb cultism in the state, three notorious gang members were arrested in Ikorodu, and arms, ammunition, and pump action among others were recovered.

He added that the suspects would soon be paraded, saying: “We are fighting cultism, one of my major agendas in Lagos is to fight cultism, traffic robbery and kidnapping; and these are the prominent cases we have in the state.

“We are partnering the judiciary so that any of them arrested will be taken off society for long so that others can learn lessons.”

He added that the Command Complaint Response Unit (CRU) would be more empowered and strengthened to take more complaints, “because I know that we are going to have more complaints this season.”

The police boss equally noted that the DPOs are in office to serve members of the public, and they must be submissive and their office conducive enough to attended to people.

According to the commissioner, “The enforcement of Okada will be more aggressive this time because most crimes are committed with Okada (commercial motorcycling). On the issue of land grabbers, the police do not have anything to do with investigating land matters, we only act as peacemakers to avoid loss of lives.  I will talk to my officers on this, and we will ensure that we distance ourselves from land grabbers because we don’t have any business with them.

“We are working very hard to eliminate cultism in the state and I realise that the capacity of divisional headquarters there is not enough, so I have created a tactical unit where more than 50 members have been deployed into the fight against cultism. They have taken off already and I know that they will get rid of cultism very soon.

“We are also looking at Ikorodu where we are already making progress, No 1, 2, 3 of their leaders have been arrested. We are still going to tackle every one of them. I will ensure that cultism becomes a thing of the past in Lagos.”

The state police boss also said his administration would be transparent while assuring the state that he will not support any wrongdoings even on the part of his officers.

He said:  “I am here to sanitise the police, and I want everyone to be able to come into any police station to file a complaint.

“Criticism will help to improve our performance as we are determined to be public-friendly, and we want Nigerians to see the Police Stations as their homes.

“We want to also ensure that crime is reduced to the barest minimum so that Lagosians can go on with their normal business.”

In his speech, the President of the Crime Reporters Association (CRAN), Mr. Lekan Olabulo, welcomed the commissioner formally to Lagos State. He noted that the association has a good relationship with the Command, and assured him of the association’s support.