Newly posted Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Cornelius Kayode Aderanti paints grim pictures here, makes hopeful gestures there, proffers solutions and ends up  very optimistic as he speaks on his assignment in Lagos. He bared his mind exclusively to our Crime Editor, Emma Nnadozie.

Excerpts:

How did you feel when your name was announced as the new Commissioner of Police, Lagos?

I felt fulfilled, fulfilled in the sense that it is one deployment that every serving officer looks forward to,and I felt a bit challenged because it is a call to duty. I feel that I now have a platform or the opportunity to actually translate my training, all the trainings that I have got both internationally and locally, and bring them to bear to serve Lagos State.

I believe that the people of Lagos State deserve better police service, that is why my vision here during my tenure is to collaborate closely with the community. I believe that is where the problem lies. We are a little bit detached from the public, and it has not done us any good. It is just like having a Berlin Wall between the police and the community and this Berlin Wall is what I intend to dismantle.

Cornelius Kayode Aderanti

In specific terms, how are you going to do it?

One, I have started by talking to my officers on what I believe in and how I want them to key into it. It starts from me at the top, down to every single officer. From officers on patrol, field patrol, regular patrol, motorcycle patrol, etc. They must be able to assist the good people of Lagos state. From morning during the peak hours to the evening when they are returning back, we should be there; we should not create any room for anybody to harass innocent, hard working people of Lagos State, robbing them, stealing their handsets, and other personal effects.

Also, I want to unlock Lagos, I want to make sure that Lagos moves from all these traffic gridlock. If we unlock Lagos, then the economy of the state will be enhanced, and a lot of people would be able to do their businesses and get home safe. If we are unable to unlock Lagos, then miscreants will have the opportunity to harass innocent people.

I am also of the view that we should have zero tolerance to corruption and bad attitude. I have told them that if I should get any report of corruption against any officer in any division, that station officer is gone, that DPO is gone, and I have effected it in one or two stations. I want to be with them, I want to carry them along and I believe that when I get my ideas across, my task becomes so easy to accomplish.

They know what to do, how to carry out their responsibility. I believe that the welfare of these officers should be catered for; the IG has directed that we should do everything possible to talk to them and make them know the effort he is making at the Force Head quarters level to improve the welfare of these officers. I believe that it is the lack of communication that is the cause of the mistrust.

So, when you are open to your officers and when you are very transparent with them, in the way you communicate with them, they will understand. And that is what I have been doing within the past few days. Elections will be coming and I have already asked them to play by the books, get conversant with all the electoral laws.

Are you referring to your officers?

Yes. Also this Friday (yesterday), I am meeting with all the political parties in the state and I am going to have a discussion with them and I will let them know the rules that are acceptable by the laws and actions that will not be tolerated. If you recall that the second week after I came on board, I made a statement that all illegally acquired weapons should be submitted to all the area commands. We have in-desk in all the area command headquarters to receive their illegally acquired weapons.

What is the level of response?

The response has been low, but I believe that my message has been well received because it means that if by tomorrow my men should get you with any weapon that is dangerous, you are going to pay for it because we have warned them. We have told them that we cannot tolerate people being in possession of illegal weapon that is not licensed by any of the statutory bodies. When you look at these illegal weapons that we have all over the place, they are doing more harm than good and if we don’t do something quickly about it, it means that during the coming elections campaigns we will have problems.

You will find most of all these politicians hiring thugs who will reign terror on innocent people. Political killings may start. Possession of illegal weapon is prohibited. If you are arrested, I will treat you like an armed robber. I am not going to take it easy with them; I am going to pass this message across on Friday to the politicians. I will tell them to surrender the illegal weapons of their thugs if they have any. We want a clean and clear national campaign. We cannot afford to burn Lagos, because the people of Lagos are hard working, peace-loving people and we have to do everything to ensure that we do the right thing.

Quite a lot. Are you doing this based on past experience?

A lot. You will recall that I have experience. You know my pedigree which I don’t have to state here, and I don’t want to disappoint the people of Lagos State because the stake is so high. They have been looking forward to a competent officer. I believe that they have one now. We will not disappoint them. I don’t sleep; I have to wok 24 hours and I have asked all my DPO’s to work round the clock. I mean it. And luckily, I am blessed in this command because I have very good security architecture in place and we have a state government that is very supportive of the police.

Throughout the federation, I can’t figure any command that has the support of the state government like Lagos State. That is why I want to make sure that we don’t disappoint people who believe in us, people who are investing in us. And the private sectors are involved, they are investing seriously through the Lagos Security Trust Fund and this translates in the patrol vehicles and other facilities that we need.

So, we have to ensure that resources that are deployed to us are well utilized and that is one area that I am going to focus on. You have the vehicles, you have the fuel and the new vehicles are been maintained by Lagos State government, so nothing is preventing us from performing.

I believe that for us to actualise intelligence policing that everyone is craving for, we have to be intelligence-based in order for us to perform. I don’t think that we can actually perform that much without the people. Going back to where I started, that is being transparent with members of the public, the people that we serve. That is the platform that we need to operate from. If you don’t trust me, you won’t come and give me any information no matter how minute. If I am not there to help you in the time of need, how do you come to me to report that something is happening somewhere.

It is not possible. So, the first thing when we talk about community policing, intelligence- based policing, is that we have to partner with the people. We need to remove that lack of trust. We should be able to allow people trust us, have confidence in us. They cannot help us if we don’t render service to the people. We have to render service to the people, when they come to the station, how we talk to them, how we see them, how we attend to them, how we take all the challenges. They should know that their problem is our problem. We are only fortunate in the sense that they come to us to lodge a complaint and that is a big responsibility placed on us, that is the way to go.

All these elderly people can help us with information that can help us combat crime. But if we are always harsh to them, how would they come to us? So, that is where I intend to start. And that is where I have spoken to them at the headquarters level and the command levels. I would also be at the division level. I will work day and night to ensure that officers are on their duty posts. They should know that we have a duty to do in Lagos state and I don’t want to disappoint the people of my state. My office remains open to members of the public, because I can’t do it alone.

These are some of the ideas. We have challenges but I have told them that which ever challenge that we have is not enough to over ride our sense of service to the people. The way we look, the way we dress should matter to us. I have told them that I have given them two weeks to change these black uniforms. I don’t want to see officers wearing them on Lagos roads.

We have to change our image, we have to change the perception because Lagos is the epicentre of the country and we cannot run away from that.

The IG alone cannot do it, the force CID cannot do it alone. I want to also focus more on training. I am meeting this afternoon with a group of NGOs that are going to organize some training for my officers on elections, human rights, use of force and other issues. All our past laws, we just have to keep reminding officers about their roles. I am going to emphasise that human right is sacrosanct and they have to respect that. Human right is the constitution and everybody has right to live and all these tend towards a kind of behaviour, they have to stop it.

They should not turn complainant into a suspect and a suspect into a complaint. They should be fair to everybody, low or high. Everybody should be treated equally and be respected. I intend to drive the boat and be in full control of that particular boat.

I emphasized that road block is banned permanently. They now ask how they would go about search for stolen vehicles. I tell them that they have a specification of the brand of the vehicle.

If it is a Toyota, a Honda, a Kia, so you don’t have to stop all the vehicles. If a complainant says a vehicle has been snatched, you have to create a scenario of the type of vehicle, the colour, the make, the plate number and announce the description to everybody, so they go out there and be specific about what they are looking for. So, when the IG said that road block is banned, he means every word of it. Road blocks remain banned. We are not going to tolerate officers going out there to mount road blocks; they will be arrested and tried.

How are you going to synergize with other security agencies?

That is going to be my second phase. At times when you get to a place, you watch how things are being done. Let me see my officers first, one good thing about our officers is that we have been interacting with other security agencies in the state and we are part of the Security Council.

What is your message to criminals in the state?

I have announced it times without number that this is a state that has zero tolerance for criminals. This is a state that is not friendly to criminals. And take my word for it, this state is not a state for criminals.

What is your advice to members of the public?

Let me assure all Lagosians that they are in for a very good deal. They are going to have a police force that would be friendly with them, they are going to have a commissioner of police that will be open and transparent to them. The commissioner of police that will open up, that will accept mistake when he is misled and that is accessible all the time. My facebook account and phone are open. People can call me from all over the world and I can assure them that I am going to collaborate with them. Because I believe that without them, I cannot succeed.

I need to have them beside me. We need to have them as our partners; we need all stakeholders to be part of this. It is a success story that we are about to start and without the good people of Lagos state, we cannot achieve our goal. We are going to be proactive. We are going to round up all the known cultists and gang members that hibernate in notorious areas of the state. What they are doing now is silently going after all these cultists, gangs every day and every weekend. We are after them; we have arrested about 100 of them. Sincerely speaking, Bariga, Shumolu, Mushin, everywhere, I am aware, because I don’t intend to allow them grow beyond what we can cope with.

Lastly, at the end of your tenure as the CP Lagos, what would you like to be remembered for?

Well, I think I should leave that one to historians and you people, the journalists to be able to judge me at the end of my tenure. But one thing that I know is that I am going to give my all to this job. And I hope that history will be fair to me by the time I exit from this office.