Posted by MALACHY UZENDU, Abuja and LUKKEY ABAWURU on
NO fewer than 10,000 policemen will be deployed by the Lagos State Police Command Thursday to maintain peace during the burial of Peoples Democratic Party.....
NO fewer than 10,000 policemen will be deployed by the Lagos State Police Command Thursday to maintain peace during the burial of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant, Chief Funso Williams.
Also, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Sunday Ehindero reiterated that no effort would be spared by the Force to unmask Williams' killers.
Briefing newsmen in Abuja, the super cop said it was a misrepresentation of facts for members of the public to accuse the police of incapable of unravelling the killers of prominent politicians in the past.
Speaking in Lagos, however, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Emmanuel Adebayo, said the deployment was necessary to provide adequate security for the prominent persons expected to witness Williams' burial.
Adebayo, who said he would personally lead the police team, said all the eight area commands in the state will provide 1,000 officers and men each, while the remaining 2,000 policemen would be provided by the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB), Monitoring Unit and Federal Highway Command.
Adebayo argued that the exercise, tagged "Operation Total Peace", will give "impregnable security to all very important persons (VIP)" that would attend the occasion.
He further stated that aside from the 10,000 policemen, about 60 per cent of mobile policemen drawn from Mopol 2, 20 and 22 would be positioned at strategic places, particularly all entry points in the state.
Adebayo said Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) would also be mounted in several areas on the island to avert unforeseen circumstances.
Fielding reporters' questions, Adebayo said the security network put in place was not connected with any envisaged violence at the burial but will ensure that nobody cashed in on the burial to foment trouble in the state.
The police boss said that all the policemen would converge on the command on Wednesday, a day before the burial for briefing and beats deployment.
Adebayo who would be assisted in the operation by an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in charge of operation, Mr. Paul Okafor, said the number would not affect the total strength of police in the command.
"We have about 25,000 policemen in Lagos; 10,000 would not affect us, more especially when the men would also safeguard the state.
Elsewhere in Abuja, Mr. Ehindero said the police invited the London Metropolitan Police to offer assistance to uncover the killers of Chief Williams because the police lacked expertise and equipment in forensic analysis.
He, however, said operatives from Alagbon Close, Ikoyi, Lagos were the ones carrying out real investigations, adding that the Metropolitan Police were here merely on back-up operations.
He said that until President Olusegun Obasanjo's regime came into office, there was no forensic laboratory, but promised that with the equipment so far procured, finger print of individuals will form part of the National Identity Card.
Said he: "People should not jump into conclusion that it was a political case. When we started the Rimi case, they said oh, it was political killing. There was hue and cry that it was another party that did it. Now, we have found out that there was no political motive behind the killing.
"Some just jump into conclusion. Allow us to do our investigation. That is why I have not said anything about Engr. Funso Williams. Just as we did in Rimi's case, we didn't talk until we cracked the nut. So also, we are going to crack the nut in the case of Engr. Funso Williams.
"For people to say all political killings were not properly investigated by the police is a farce. After all, when they talk about Bola Ige, didn't we take the perpetrators of Bola Ige to court. Was the attorney-general of the state not prosecuted?
"Is it not a fact that one of the suspects, when he was being prosecuted and he was in prison, is he not now a senator? When we take people to court and they are being prosecuted, what else will the police do?" he asked.
"So also it has been said in the case of Alhaji Rimi, now that we have got those who did the killing, that it was an inside activity of the family in collusion with the guards that were asked to leave the doors open, and some members of the family that did the stabbing and we have arraigned them in court, I expect members of the press to give us accolades," he emphasized.