Lagos And Its Enormous Security Challenges

By Moses Omorogieva, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Fasola

Adamu is highly ‘countrified’; he had never left his rural community for a city as large as Lagos since he was born 20 years ago. Expectedly, when he arrived in Lagos on an invitation from a friend, Adamu was amazed to see a chaotic traffic flow and a large number of commuters and pedestrians streaming along the streets. Armed with a description of how to get to his friend’s residence, he walked up to a bystander for assistance. But the bystander, realising that Adamu was a stranger, pulled a fast one on him. Pretending to be a good Samaritan, the street urchin took Adamu to a corner two streets away, stabbed and dispossessed him of his money and other valuable items.

Such criminal acts occur almost every minute in Lagos, which has a population of 9.01 million going by the 2006 National Population and Housing Census. The UN Development Index rates Lagos as one of the mega cities of the world with a potential of having 25 million people by 2015. But growing unemployment in the state has left an army of unemployed youths constituting themselves into social miscreants and criminals. Armed robberies, assassinations, theft, kidnapping, pipeline vandalism, ritual killings and violent clashes are some of the crimes engaged in by some of these miscreants. As a result, residents no longer sleep with both eyes closed as the crime rate soars.

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, Mr. Muhammed Abubakar, says more than 10,200 persons were arrested for alleged involvement in criminal activities between July and December 2007. No fewer than 7,450 of these suspects were prosecuted. Abubakar also says that 65 suspected armed robbers were killed in gunfight with the police, while 291 armed robbery suspects were arrested. The police recovered 3,502 rounds of ammunition and 204 firearms from the suspects, in addition to 753 stolen vehicles within the period, he says.

The state government, along with the federal government, has voiced concern about the crime situation in the state. But are the police and other security agencies overwhelmed by the vicious criminals who, in most cases, are better armed? To stem the increasing menace of robbers, the defunct Bola Tinubu administration received presidential approval for a joint military/police patrol of Lagos. The state government provided 100 vans and power generating sets to enhance the operations of the patrol teams. The Oba of Lagos, Alhaji Rilwan Akiolu, acknowledges the efforts of the state government and security agencies in checking violent crimes in the state. Akiolu, however, blames the high crime rate on politicians who want to win elections at all costs.

Nevertheless, the incumbent Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has committed himself to ensuring security in the state. Fashola recently inaugurated a committee headed by a former Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Musliu Smith, to examine the security situation and come out with recommendations for effective control. Within his first 100 days in office, the governor also resuscitated the state security outfit, the Rapid Response Squad (RRS). Fresh police officers have been injected into the RRS, while the members are provided with new uniforms and equipment. The government has solicited the help of corporate organisations and individuals in its campaign to rid Lagos of crime. The organisations have pledged or paid huge sums of money for this purpose. The government has so far provided 402 patrol vans fitted with modern communication equipment to the RRS.

But how far have these efforts gone in making Lagos secure for the people and businesses? Observers say the efforts are paying off, as the presence of security personnel is being felt in all parts of the state. They, however, note that criminal activities have not ceased and are not likely to cease. But say that there is a seeming drop in the crime rate. For Mr. Frank Mba, the state police command’s spokesman, the police are “on top of the situation.” An elated Abubakar says that “this feat could not have been possible without the support of the people.” The police commissioner commends residents of the state for volunteering useful information to the police and urges them to do more. The command parades suspected criminals every Thursday as part of efforts to fight crime in the state. With some 25,000 policemen and adequate supply of firearms and ammunition, Abubakar is hopeful that Lagos State can become crime-free.

As the country’s economic nerve-centre, it is expected that greater efforts will be made to drastically reduce the incidence of crime and criminality in Lagos. It is only when this is done that Lagos can indeed become the nation’s “Centre of Excellence.”