Posted by JULIANA FRANCIS on
Lagos Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola, showed his determination to make the state a safe and secured society Wednesday when he teamed up with the police for an onslaught on criminals.
Lagos Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola, showed his determination to make the state a safe and secured society Wednesday when he teamed up with the police for an onslaught on criminals.
The joint effort, which led to the arrest of 23 armed robbery suspects, who were paraded at the state police headquarters in Lagos yesterday actually began shortly after Fashola was sworn in on May 29, when he pledged to force down the crime rate.
The State Commissioner of Police, Mr Bashiru Azeez, told reporters at the parade that the suspects were arrested from different parts of the metropolis, adding that a crime prevention strategy had been put in place in line with the 9-way test resolution of the Inspector General of Police, Sir Mike Okiro.
According to the police, one of the smashed gangs had raped six female commercial sex workers and snatched their handsets at gun point.
Recovered from the suspected robbers were 12 guns of different make and sizes, 21 expended cartridges, 15 live cartridges, one operation Volkswagen bus, marked XN 265 GGE, five telephone handsets, two gas cylinders, charms, three empty magazines and a jack knife.
He revealed that the major arrests were recorded along the Third Mainland Bridge, Apongbon, Ojuelegba and on Eko Bridge that have become notorious black sports. Azeez noted that the arrest would not have been possible but for the directive that policemen in uniform, plain clothes, patrol vans and on motor bikes should infiltrate these areas. He explained that the areas were the usual places where people have been facing hell in the hands of bandits, who usually operate in traffic jams.
Azeez, who explained that most of the robbers were arrested after receiving phone calls from members of the public, added that the police could do better, if people continued to pass information to the police.
He said: 'We are in a haste to reduce crime to the barest minimum in line with the zero crime tolerance of the Inspector General of Police, the enormous support of the Governor of Lagos, his excellency Babatunde Raji Fashola, and the unflinching co-operation of the good people of the state."
Fashola, who was represented at the parade by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr Akeem Bello said that hence forth, there'll be zero tolerance for crime in the state.
The governor added that parents should warn their wards and that residence should be vigilant as the criminals live in their midst.
He also warned that a time is coming when the landlord to an armed robber will be dealt with like the criminal, as he further pledged that the state government will continue to support and strengthen the police, so that the right economy could return to the state.