7th July, 2015
Lagos state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode on Tuesday presided over the State Security Council meeting with an assurance that progress is being made to round up the remaining members of the Ikorodu armed robbery gang still on the run.
The new State Police Commissioner, Mr Fatai Owoseni, who spoke to Government House Correspondents shortly after the meeting at the Lagos House, Ikeja, said the security agencies are not resting on their oars, assuring that more intelligence gathering is ongoing to bring all those who perpetrated the act are made to face the wrath of the law.
“Investigation is still ongoing, we are building on the information that we are gathering from interrogation, we are sending our intelligence personnel out and also comparing some information that we have gotten from the DSS”.
“You remember that the first suspect that was arrested was apprehended by men of the OP-MESA and it is based on what we are able to get from that suspect that led to the arrest of more suspects. That is still ongoing and by the time we are done, we would be able to round up all of them and ensure that they are prosecuted,” he said.
He said the meeting focused on the issue of cultism, pipeline vandalism, land grabbing and the effect of traffic gridlock which a review of the activities of street trading with a resolve that all those who go against the law would be brought to book.
“At the meeting that was held today, the issue of cultism, pipeline vandalisation, issue of land grabbers that have turned Lagos to a war zone and the effects of the traffic gridlock that is slowing down things in the state, all these things all together we’ve looked into and of course the impact of street trading on traffic gridlock”.
“All these things were looked into and it was resolved that it is time to enforce the law, it is time to allow the law to take its course by prosecuting offenders and of course, in the meeting it was resolved that we should now look at how we can respond pragmatically to issues of crime and its effect to security,” Owoseni said.
He said the Governor also gave an assurance of his commitment to provide all the needed logistics that would enable the security agencies carry out their assignment of securing the life and property of the every resident.
“The State Governor has assured us, he has told us that security is prime in his heart, because security is vital, it is key to economic and social development and he has assured us of his support,” he said.
He said the Police would pay more emphasis on prevention, pro-active policing, intelligence-led investigations, intelligence-led policing and would partner with the community by taking inputs from the non-state actors, the members of the community, different groups into its planning.
Those at the meeting include the new Commissioner of Police, Mr Fatai Owoseni, Commander, 9th Mechanised Brigade, Major General Mohammed Sabo, Commander Airforce Base, Air Commodore Lere Osanyintolu, Commander, NNS Beecroft, Olokun, Apapa, Navy Commodore Daniel Ikoli and Director, State Security Service (SSS), Mr. Okojie Little John and the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello.