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By Christopher Oji
For Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Olanrewaju Ishola, policing Lagos is not a tea party and things would have gone awry before, during and after the yuletide if not for strategies adopted by the command.
According to him, a lot of untoward things would have happened between September 2024 and January 2025, if not for the commands proactive planning. The CP, during a press briefing on Saturday on the achievements of the command within the period under review, stated that part of the strategies put in place to make sure that no ugly incident was recorded during the yuletide included a security lockdown of Lagos.
“When I mean by lockdown is that we sectionalized Lagos to make sure that all areas were mapped out in what we call crime mapping, whereby, if any incident happened within an area, we quickly nip it in the bud or if it happens we make sure that such perpetrators do not escape justice. And by crime mapping, if you can’t hold it, we make sure that there is a bullet that could spill into men already in place in a kind of an ambush to arrest such perpetrators. It actually worked for us.
“I would like to also note that we had actual intelligence in place that Lagos will be overrun during Christmas. But the Inspector-General of Police, in his able leadership, is always loading us with intelligence, which we follow stricto sensu. There were no ugly incidents upon the period of the yuletide.
“The Lagos State Police Command is well enabled to keep Lagos safe. A total number of 2,176 cases were charged to courts under this period in review. We maintain a high level of professionalism, in line with the extant laws and rules of Nigeria and in line with the world-accepted practices in investigating and prosecuting criminal offenses. We rescued many people in distress either from ‘one-chance’ robbery or kidnap attempts. We rescued them on time and they were reunited with their families, while the offenders were taken into custody.
“Many have been prosecuted. We still have some remaining with us for further investigation. Today, we are parading a number of suspects, as you can see, for various offenses that range from armed robbery, carjacking, murder, kidnapping, abduction, to gender-based violence, cyber bullying, cult activities, illegal possession of firearms and vandalism.
“For ease of reference, we have serialized and summed up all these offenses into categories. We are showing today assemblage of arms and ammunition of various make, grade and calibers being recovered in our quest to keep Lagos safe. These arms and ammunition we are showcasing today are essentially for visuals and I want to appeal to people that have a photosensitive epilepsy not to let this thing hold them.
“They are just the quest of our own trade. We want the public to know that it is not all a bed of roses for us. In the period of that review, I lost three policemen.
“Recall that on November 25, 2024, Lagos State Police Command addressed the press on the activities and achievements of the command from September 17, 2024, to December 17, 2024, where stakeholders were briefed about the onslaught on criminals and criminalities within Lagos State Police Command. This is in line with keeping to the prevention activities and the vision the Nigerian Inspector General Police has in keeping a free and safe society. The IGP gave us a charge as a command to make sure that Lagos State, being the Centre of Excellence, remains excellent in policing.
“We don’t only police Lagos, we take interest in what happens outside Lagos, because Lagos is the in-route or let’s say the bus stop for all stops in Nigeria. So we are interested in what happens outside Lagos State.
“During this period we had intelligence-led policing that resulted in the peaceful season that we had in Lagos. Lagos received huge numbers of visitors into the state, many of which did not go outside the state and they celebrated Christmas here.
“It is on record that Murtala Muhammed International Airport received no fewer than 500,000 diaspora Nigerians, 90% of whom did not go outside Lagos for celebration. They stayed here because Lagos works and Lagos is safe. In the publication tagged December 30, it was opined that people here celebrated Christmas with unfettered fanfare and the celebration still continues.
“This was only made possible because we kept to the directives given by IGP Olukayode Adeolu Ebetokun. Comparatively, Lagos is rated the safest state in Nigeria and we appreciate the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide San-wolu, for his support throughout all our efforts in the Save Lagos Initiative. I want to give it to my police officers and men for their unwavering commitment to keep to directives and their being humane while in the discharge of their various duties.
“Everyone who is somebody came to Lagos for Christmas and New Year. We don’t want to mention names but we all know that Nigeria, the whole world, came to Lagos for Christmas and they had their phone, were protected, no molestation, no evil reports. These successes, we don’t take it to our head alone.
“We appreciate the supportive media. We are always there to showcase our achievements. So the Nigerian press and our crime reporters, we appreciate you for being good partners in the work of Save Lagos Initiative.
“On October 19, 2024, a distress call was received that a truck ran over a truck driver. Policemen ran to the scene because the policemen prevented people from burning down the truck. A police officer was pummelled to death by stones in the course of duty.
“One Sakaga Niu, was stabbed to death by seven military personnel at Ojo area for enforcing traffic rules. The investigation into that is in the ripe stage. On December 25, 2024, at Ipaja, a police officer and his team on stop-and-search duty were attacked by road users.
“The ones that were lucky to escape with injuries were taken to the hospital, while we lost a man. Such manpower wastage has emotional effect on us as a people, but we don’t let it deter us in the line of duty. So we further pledge to keep adhering to the directives given by the Inspector General of Police.
“The legal section of the command will work and still keep to being good officers while trusting his leadership. I would like to say, to the glory of the Almighty God, throughout the year 2024, we had no incident of bank robbery in Lagos. We thank God because all the measures we put in place yielded good fruits.
“Serializing the incidents that happened, robbery. One Chukumai, 23, and one Solomon Balogun were arrested in the gestapo form of robbery. We recovered from them one AK-47 rifle with several rounds of ammunition. Two locally made guns with four live cartridges were also recovered from them. The suspects have been charged to court.
“On October 20, 2024, a case of kidnapping was reported at the command by one Mrs. Anya Ngozi. We arrested one Shebeng Akintola, 27, and the victim was rescued, while the case was charged to court We recovered some vehicles.
“Information came to us that they were hot vehicles. We arrested the vendor who claimed he’s selling the vehicle to some people that had paid for it. They’ve actually paid for the vehicle, but the question is what is the source of the vehicle? Up till now they have failed to produce the source of that vehicle.
“A man I wouldn’t want to name, under the guise of human rights activist or activism, has been threatening us with whatever on the charge about illegal seizure and all what available. We are giving him a charge that his vendors that he is fronting for should produce the owners of the vehicle. To every buyer and a seller there is an owner of a commodity.
“We have unlawful possession of firearms. So many human beings, be it in traffic or by information, are apprehended with various grades of arms and ammunition. Some carry under the guise that they are for gaming.
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“I wouldn’t know a man in possession of automatic compaction rifle with 90 rounds of ammunition simply for the purpose of gaming with five stun guns that can disable a human being. We don’t believe elephants are illegals. Such things are possibly kept for hunting elephants.
“The arms and ammunition are on display there. On the 6th of November 2024, along Godeiro, Edimu area, men on stop-and-search duty recovered one locally made pistol, one locally made single-barrel pistol and empty barrels while two of the cartridges loaded; 19th of October 2024, at about 1440 hours, DPO and his men at Jechate, Edimu area, accosted the suspect with one locally made pistol.
“27th of October 2024, at about 1440 hours, Lagos Island, information had it that on top of a roof, there were bags of guns and ammunition, in which case we recovered two AK-47 rifles with breech number 52573 and 07003853. Also, one kit to assault rifle with live ammunition. This was traced to one of the arms ammunition looted from an armory at Ebutero police station during the EndSARS crisis.
They are in various stages of disrepair, but our professional gun handlers have refurbished them and the guns have since been reunited with the direction where they came from.
“Conspiracy and murder. Under the period of review, we had a case of Uber riders flagging and subsequently killing the driver owner, I mean the owners of the vehicle.
“On one occasion, one of such vehicles was to be sold. We had information and we swung into action. We arrested the man trying to buy while the seller told us the source of the vehicle. We arrested the suspect in court, while they took us to his site where they buried the owner of the vehicle. We exhumed the body. We have since charged the case to court.
“Also, a Uber driver was killed in such a circumstance. We investigated and brought to book one Edmond Julius Abdoulaye and one Saturday O.K. in connection with the crime.
“The Toyota Camry was recovered and handed over to the family. Case charged to court but, unfortunately, the driver was killed. Just two days ago, you saw four young men blindfolded.
“We did that because investigation is still in place. They hired a Uber man inside his Toyota Camry. They apprehended him. Stabbed him to death. It was the chaos that alerted our operatives. Two of them first ran away.
“We were able to arrest two with the man in a pool of his blood. The man is late now. With proper investigation, they led us to where we arrested the other two.
“So, four of them flagged down a rider and killed the driver of the Uber. I would like to tell Lagosians, especially people involved in this Uber thing, Taxify, Lagride and all these stuff, be wary of your passengers.
“If it’s possible, don’t carry more than one passenger at a time and insist such a fellow is searched and make him sit at the front with you. This is our advice. We are also, in the course of the month, going to summon all drivers in such activities to give them some security tips so that they will not be falling victim of this.
“This is just the third of its kind reported or detected in three months. We don’t know how many have happened. Such are the cases of brutality around us now.
“Unfortunately, cases of murder through cultism and cult activities were on the increase. As a responsive force, we always arrest perpetrators. But we don’t believe in jungle justice here.
“They’re always taken to court for criminal prosecution, child abuse. On the 8th of January 2025, at about 1,000 hours, a viral video has it that one schoolteacher, Stella Wadibu, aged 46, beat up a toddler.
And there were kidnap cases, what we term constructive kidnap.
“Constructive in the sense that you are a lady who is on the fast lane. A boy or a group of boys will lure you from your enclave to Lagos, send you a flight ticket business class to fly to Lagos, send you N500,000 to come to Lagos, lodging you in a five-star hotel. You’ll be feeling like Aretha Franklin that you have arrived, not knowing that it’s just a bait.
“I’ve rescued more than 16 ladies out of search. No sooner do they come, they messed them up, collect their phones, transfer all their money, and get in touch with their relatives to bring in more money, otherwise, they will kill them. It is constructive in the sense that they walk themselves into the trap, but we are always a step ahead.
“I have a case of abduction at hand of a 14-year-old girl who is inadvertently pregnant. Her supposed boyfriend abducted her and the girl in question made serious attempts to the parents that she had been kidnapped and the parents should send money. Of course, they have been sending money to her until we were able to apprehend the two of them yesterday night.
“The girl in question is presently with a baby. We are still studying the video clips to know where and where we can come in as a people. In the course of the year, a lady came out and said six ladies were apprehended at Lekki. She was lucky to have escaped being kidnapped too. Ladies are not goats. They have families. No one has come to us to tell us they are looking for anybody. The lady has not come to the police either to assist on the investigation, if a claim was anything to go by. We all saw about two or three days ago a man that spat something that looked like blood from his mouth claiming that he is a full-blown Nigerian with the prowess of having audacity when knife cannot enter his body that they will try to slaughter him. They couldn’t slaughter him under one bridge.
“I think somebody is not even an investigator. We know that that’s a good or whatever. And I want you to know that that video is an old video dates back two years.
Lagos is safe and we keep Lagos safe. All of us here live in Lagos too. Our families are here. So, we have a professional assignment to keep Lagos safe. And as good citizens we have the obligation as well to make sure that Lagos is safe and working.
“At this juncture, I still want to say a big thank you to my IGP for giving us a platform to express ourselves under him.
Also, thanks to Mr. Governor for his unwavering support in making sure that the police command in Lagos remains the doyen of all police. No gain saying that we won the award for the best police in West Africa.”
