AS Mr. Imohimi Edgal, yesterday,
assumed duty as the new Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, the cosmopolitan
city that rarely goes to sleep, no doubt, has peculiarities that call for
special attention. Indifference to rules and regulations, kidnapping,
particularly of students, cultism, jungle justice by irate mobs are prevalent in
Lagos today, needing the serious attention of any Police.
A statement by
Spokesman for the Command, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, said that Edgal assumed
office following his confirmation as the new Commissioner in Lagos State by the
Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris. Edgar Imohimi, the new Commissioner
of Police, Lagos State Command. According to the statement, “Edgal Imohimi has
taken over and assumed duty in official capacity as the new Commissioner of
Police, Lagos State Police Command, with immediate effect. “Formal handing and
taking over notes went on smoothly between the former and new Lagos State
Police Commissioners.” Until his appointment as Lagos Police Commissioner,
Imohimi was in charge of operations in Lagos State. Owoseni hands over Famous-Cole’s
statement added: “Fatai Owoseni has handed over to the new Commissioner of
Police, Lagos State Police Command, Edgar Imohimi. “The Command would like to
state that at no point in time did the former Commissioner, Owoseni, refuse to
obey the lawful directives of the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris.
“Owoseni wished the officers and men of the Command all the best under the
leadership of Edgal Imohimi, at the Officer’s Mess, during a conference where
senior officers, area commanders, DPOs and HODs were all present today
(yesterday).
“The official brief from the outgoing Police Commissioner, Fatai
Owoseni, to officers was to devote the same official capacity they once had
with him to the efforts of the new Commissioner, to continue to make Lagos
State peaceful and crime free. “Imohimi had a quick security brief with the
officers for the public holiday and warned officers to make sure the Sallah
break is hitch free with robust Police visibility.” This is Lagos Lagos’s
special status as the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria and, indeed, West
Africa, understandably poses a great threat to public security as diverse
people from sundry parts of the world and for different reasons come to Lagos
on a daily basis. With a population that is close to 24 million out of the
country’s estimated population of 180 million, security challenge in the state
is peculiar and, therefore, needs a peculiar solution. Consequently, successive
administrations in the state had evolved various strategies to tackle crimes.
Tackling crimes Colonel Buba Marwa Administration responded to criminal
activities in the state with a security outfit known as Operation Sweep.
The
outfit was restructured, re-organised and renamed Rapid Response Squad, RRS,
under Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, who also devised various
poverty alleviation programmes as the economic infrastructure of fighting
crime. Security was also an integral part of the 10-Point Agenda of the
immediate past governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola. Lagos State Security Trust
Fund, LSSTF, was conceived to institutionalise an enduring public/private
approach to security challenges in the state by that government. Building on
the successes of his predecessors, current Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has
been working relentlessly, with key stakeholders, to advance security in the
state. To underscore Governor Ambode’s seriousness in ensuring the security of
lives and property of Lagosians, the governor re-branded and repositioned the
state’s RRS. Within six month of his assumption of office, he procured and
handed over to RRS three helicopters, two patrol boats, 100 motorcycles, 13 BM
power bikes, 60 Ford salon cars, 55 Ford Rangers, 40 Toyota Landcruiser SUVs,
31 Armoured Personnel Carriers, APC, as well as Police uniforms and other kits.
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