Unfinished Police Business

It is gratifying to note that the crime rate in Lagos, the nation’s busiest commercial centre, has dropped significantly and one no longer reads screaming headlines in newspapers and magazines about robbers attacking banks and carting away millions of naira.

This is in contrast with the situation in the state two years ago when robbers ran riot and attacked banks and killed innocent bank customers and staff. In the last two years, attacks on banks have reduced so drastically that within that period, only one attempt was made and it was foiled.

We must commend the police  for rising to the occasion and using the weapons, patrol vehicles and other facilities provided by the Lagos State government to curtail crime in the state.

The state police command also corroborated our observation when it declared that its anti-crime campaign in the state had paid off in recent times. According to the police, there is remarkable drop in crime rate in the metropolis by about 70 percent.

Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos State also attested to this during the third anniversary of his administration when he disclosed that security in the state had improved. We are glad to note that the state police command spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba attributed the success in crime fighting to logistics support from the state government.

As we stated earlier, Mba revealed that there has been no successful bank robbery operation in the state in the last one year. “I can tell you that even in the last six months, there was no attempt on any bank at all,” Mba added.

The state government under the leadership of Governor Fashola deserves kudos for providing the police with the wherewithal to fight crime in the state. Apart from providing vehicles and equipment to the police, the Fashola administration also evolved ways of providing for the welfare of the policemen in the state.

As much as we commend the police for this success, we also want to remind them that fighting crime is an unfinished business. It is true that crime rate has reduced drastically in the metropolis, but robbers are still having a field day in the outskirts and suburbs of the state. We are seizing this opportunity to implore the police to spread their tentacles to the nooks and crannies of the state to confront the robbers.

For instance, in some parts of Alimosho Local Government, robbery attacks occur daily. Residents are subjected to a nightmare by men of the underworld. The police need to focus on new strategies being adopted by robbers to traumatise Lagosians. The robbers now use commercial motorcycles to rob people.

The law enforcement officers should also pay attention to kidnapping which is becoming rampant in the state. There is need to patrol known black spots at night to thwart hoodlums’ plan to terrorise Lagosians.

The police should also change their outmoded approach to crime prevention and control. They should stop mounting checkpoints at the same spots every day. They should be shifting to other spots so that robbers cannot predict where they are. Knowing that there are regular spots where policemen mount road blocks enables the robbers to change their routes to avoid being arrested. This is a very important advice the state police command must take into consideration to ensure a crime-free society.

Residents of the city should also be sensitised to be security conscious always.These are the measures to take to guarantee lasting security in the state.