Posted by By Olalekan Adetayo on
Armed robbers stole about 673 vehicles in Lagos between January and June.....
Armed robbers stole about 673 vehicles in Lagos between January and June.
About 133 robbery cases were also reported in the various divisions of the state police command during the same period.
Observers, however, said the figure of the robbery cases could be higher as not all such cases were usually reported to the police.
These figures were contained in the crime statistics of the first half of this year obtained from the command's Public Relations Department on Tuesday.
The statistics further showed that 105 murder cases were reported in the state during the period.
A breakdown of the statistics showed that 24 vehicles were stolen in January, 20 in February, 27 in March, 13 in April, 28 in May and 21 in June.
In January, 24 robbery cases were reported, 20 in February, 27 in March, 13 in April, 28 in May and 21 in June.
The command's spokesman, Mr. Olubode Ojajuni, a deputy superintendent of police, told our correspondent in an interview on Tuesday that the command was concerned about the resurgence of robbery cases in the metropolis.
When confronted with the allegation that sometimes, robbers would operate for hours in some areas without any police team arriving to check them, Ojajuni said the police could not be aware of any robbery except they were informed.
He said most members of the public would not call the police when robbery operations were going on in their neighbourhood only for them to later blame the police for inefficiency.
He advised members of the public to always avail themselves of the opportunity of reaching the command's control room through its hotlines: 01-7745705-6, 4720381, 4720387 and 4720388 when in distress.
When confronted with another allegation that when contacted, policemen still arrived at robbery scenes late, Ojajuni said the number of patrol vans available in the divisions was not enough for the command to combat crime.
He said many divisions that were supposed to have at least five patrol vehicles had only one.
'In such cases, when we receive three different calls at the same time in the night, it will be difficult for us to get to the scenes with one patrol van," he said.