• Cultists top list of arrests

In this report, Sunday Vanguard looks at the security situation in Lagos, parading the biggest State Police Command in the country with 13 Area Commands and 107 Police Divisions. 

By Evelyn Usman

Due to its economic and socio- political importance in Nigeria, people keep trooping to Lagos State, causing it to have its fair share of security challenges. At the moment, its population is put at 24 million. Regardless of the phobia for perpetual increase in crime and criminality in the state, figures at Sunday Vanguard’s disposal show a reduction in crime rate between 2017 and the first half of 2018, following a partnership between the state government, the police, other security agencies and stakeholders to ensure security in the state.

Lagos State Police boss, Imohimi Edgal

Badoo crisis

Lagos, not quite long ago, faced two major security challenges: Badoo killings and kidnapping. The reign of terror by the Badoo cult group in Ikorodu and environs, which came to public glare in late 2016, was a phase Lagosians will never wish to revisit.

The activities of the cult group dominated the media space to the extent that many concluded that its members were invisible, as they were never sighted entering victims’ apartments to smash their heads with grinding stones.

Over 50 persons, including adults and babies, had life snuffed out of them by the perpetrators, who wiped victims’ blood with white handkerchiefs before leaving same way they came.

Security operatives applied different methods to curb the killings. But the group was degraded when the state Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, took the battle to their hideouts in Ikorodu.

On assumption of office, Edgal had initiated Town Hall meetings during which he introduced his Philosophy of Policing and Safety Partnership. But the battle to degrade Badoo began earlier when Edgal, as the state Deputy Commissioner of Police in-charge of Operations, mobilized a joint security operation involving the Onyabo Vigilante Groups, the Oodua Peoples’ Congress, OPC, led by Chief Gani Adams, the Department of State Security, DSS, and Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps, LNSC, among others, against the cult group.

The mobilisation saw series of meetings being held at Lagos State Police Command Headquarters where a blueprint was drawn on how to tackle the Badoo menace.

First, joint security patrols were carried out at night in all parts of Ikorodu while herbalists and local chiefs in the area were told they would be held responsible for any ritual killing by Badoo in their domains.

This strategy paid off as it exposed shrines used for ritual killings in the town. Several arrests were made but the major ones were those of four suspected kingpins: Igwe Chibuzor (20), Obamoyegun Omotayo (45), Samuel Ameze (38), his wife, Gift, and Adebayo Fatai (34).

This happened in January 2018, barely three months after Edgal became the state Commissioner of Police.

Before the smashing of the Badoo cult, Edgal had led journalists to a shrine in Ogun State operated by a herbalist, Fatai Adebayo, alias Alese, who allegedly fortified members of the cult group. Several items, including grinding stones which members allegedly used to attack victims, were recovered from the shrine.

Statistics

Crime statistics obtained by Sunday Vanguard reveal that crime rate in Lagos decreased by 55%. For instance, between January and October 2017, 299 robbery suspects were arrested in the state with 192 arms and 997ammunitions recovered.

But between January and June 2018, 235 robbery suspects were arrested with 135 arms and 369 ammunitions recovered.

Ammunition recovered in the first half of this year ranks 3rd on the crime statistics while arrest of robbery suspects ranks 2nd.

Out of those arrested in 2018, 220 were charged to court while 15 were still being interrogated as of the time of writing this report.

A breakdown of arrested robbery suspects showed that in 2017, 35 were arrested in January, 25 in February, 10 in March, 50 in April, 30 in May and 29 in June. 34 suspected robbers were arrested in July, 10 in August, 46 in September and 30 in October.

The figures for 2018 show that 18 robbery suspects were arrested in January, 22 in February, 20 in March, 28 in April, 42 in May and 25 in June.

Robbery suspects killed

Between January and October 2017, 32 robbery suspects were killed in cross fire with the police while eight were felled by police bullets between January and June 2018.

Also, between January and October 2017, 241 vehicles were recovered. Out of this figure, 72 were collected from owners at gunpoint, 175 removed from where they were parked while one was driven away by a driver.

However, 20 vehicles were recovered in January, 22 in February, 33 in March, 26 in April , 10 in May, 14 in June , 24 in July , 19 in August , 35 in September and 25 in October.

When the 2017 figures are compared with the recovery made between January and June 2018, there is a sharp reduction with just 25 vehicles recovered. Seven of them were snatched while seven others were removed from where they were parked.

Robbery incidents

32 armed robbery incidents were recorded in 2017 while six were recorded between January and June 2018. 107 robbery incidents were foiled between January and June 2018.

The breakthrough did not come easy as some policemen paid the supreme price to attain it. Records show that between January and October 2017, six policemen lost their lives while two killings were recorded between January and June 2018.

Cultism

Cultism, which is another major menace bedevilling Lagos, saw the arrest of 218 suspects between January and October 2017. A breakdown of the arrest shows that 12 suspected cultists were arrested in January, 8 in February , 47 in March, 30 in April, 4 in May, 13 each in June and July and 11, 28, 62 in August, September and October respectively.

Meanwhile, over 800 youths involved in cultism openly denounced membership of different confraternities as well as surrendered their weapons during the period under review. The denunciation exercise took place in Ikorodu and Badagry.

The figures of crime in the state show that between January and June 2018, 513 suspected cultists were arrested. The arrests show an increase of 295 when compared to the 218 cultists arrested between January and October 2017.

According to the figures, arrests of suspected cultists rank highest in the first half of 2018. A breakdown of this figure shows that 21 were arrested in January, 67 in February and 5 in March. The highest number of arrest during the period under review was made in April with 338 suspected cultists held. 68 were arrested in May and 14 in June.

The suspected cultists were arrested in Surulere, Ijegun Satellite, Oluti, Ikorodu, Ajah, Yaba, Oworoshoki, Shomolu, Mushin, Ajagbandi, Ilasamaja, Shibiri Alaba, Oshodi, Isolo, Ijora Badia, Ajegunle and Itire.

Sunday Vanguard learned that of the 513 suspected cultists arrested in the first half of 2018, 455 were charged to court while 58 others were still under investigation as of the time of this report.

A breakdown of those charged to court reveals that 38 were arraigned in Magistrate Court, Ebute Metta, four in Magistrate Court, Ogba, 182 in Magistrate Court, Ogudu and 231 in Magistrate Court, Yaba.

A feat in the fight against cultism was recorded last week, following the arrest of 20-year-old Mariam Abiola, a Senior Secondary School 3 drop-out, who confessed to be a member of the Eiye Confraternity and had killed four rival cult members in Ilasamaja alone.

Kidnapping

At a time in Lagos, kidnapping became a major security challenge with militants holding sway by invading schools in Epe, Ikorodu and other parts of the state, where students and teachers were abducted.

One of the longest abductions was that of the six students of Igbonla who were taken from their school by some gunmen on May 25, 2017. The students spent 64 days in captivity until their release from Aboto creek in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State.

It got to a stage that businessmen in Festac Town, Iba, Satellite Town and residents around riverine areas in Ikorodu, Epe, Igando, among others, had to flee their homes for fear of being kidnapped. However, kidnap cases have dropped considerably due to the measures put in place by the police.

Figures show that 30 suspected kidnappers were arrested between January and October 2017, with 4 arrests made in January, 5 in February, 2 in March, 6 in April, 3 each in May and June respectively, two in September and one in October.

But between January and June 2018, 13 suspected kidnappers were arrested and charged to court with pockets of attempts foiled.

Defilement

On defilement, 118 cases were recorded between January and June 2018 out of which 113 were charged to court and five still under investigation.

Out of the cases were fathers who shamelessly admitted to have been having carnal knowledge of their female children, blaming their indulgence on the handiwork of the devil.

48 cases of domestic violence were recorded in the half of 2018 with 25 charged to court.

Murder 

Murder cases reported between January and October 2017 were 213 while 107 were recorded in the first half of this year.

From the figures, April 2017 had the highest number of murder cases with 31, followed by February with 29, while May had 28 murder cases. On the other hand, January and February 2018 recorded the highest numbers of murder with 20 cases each.

But in the first half of 2018, 107 cases were reported. March 2018 had the highest number of murder incidents with 25 cases reported, closely followed by January and February which had 20 cases each.

Hard drug peddlers

Another major fight the Lagos police are tackling is the use of hard drugs, especially by minors. Several arrests have so far been made. One of the spectacular arrests was those of Franku Ibrahim (23) and Ibrahim Sheu (40) alleged to have been selling TRAMADOL (highly addictive stimulant) to underage pupils.

Their arrest followed information received by the Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs, four months ago, that pupils of some schools in the state were suspected to be indulging in hard drugs.

Consequently, decoy operatives from the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the state Police Command located the schools and interviewed the pupils, who took the operatives to the suspects’ shop.

Traffic management

Traffic congestion is one other major area of concern to government. The situation, particularly along Oshodi/Apapa expressway, got bad to the extent that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had to visit the area twice in recent times.

Although the Nigerian Navy took the challenge to address the menace of truck drivers who virtually took over all bridges and expressways linking the ports, it was only able to clear those at the Marine Road and Ijora.

Edgal, following the mandate of the Lagos State government, met with other security agencies, three weeks ago, to map out strategies to ease traffic congestion in Lagos.

Since the meeting, there has been a reasonable shift from what the situation along the Oshodi/ Apapa expressway used to be as some of the trucks have successfully been cleared from the service lane, thereby allowing other road users access.

Strategies to fight crime

While reeling out strategies emplaced by the state Police Command to lower crime rate in Lagos, Edgal, during a recent security meeting with Governor Akinwumi Ambode and other stakeholders where he gave the command’s score card in six months, said, “To ensure low crime rate is sustained, increased police presence in all crime prone areas and other locations has been implemented. The Command is not only proactive in nature but intelligence-driven. Other strategies emplaced are: Re-invigoration or re-stimulation of the intelligence gathering mechanism of the state and information sharing among security agencies; Purposeful and constant joint raids with personnel of the Military and DSS of identified criminal hideouts and black spots”.

One major strategy, according to him, was to set-up the Citizens Complaint Hot Centre at the Police Intelligence Laboratory Alausa which features include10 dedicated lines where members of the public could call and text their matters for urgent attention. This, he explained, was aimed at winning the trust and confidence of Lagosians.

Others are training and retraining of police officers on human rights, election duty, emergency response and combat operation readiness; deployment of counter-terrorism unit and bomb squad personnel at key locations; dissemination of the telephone numbers of the Area Commanders, Divisional Police Officers and other Principal Officers to members of the public to enhance information flow to the police.

“In conjunction with the state government, members of the NURTW and RTEAN have been made to understand that forceful taking over of motor parks will no longer be tolerated, except in line with the constitution of the unions. Where such occurs, the aggressors are promptly dislodged by the Command and advised to follow the due process”, Edgal stated.

Crime rate

He disclosed that from January to August 2017, there was 15% decline in crime rate, adding that the introduction of Community Policing/Safety Partnership, in addition to the increase in police visibility, between September 1, 2017 and now, had resulted in 55% reduction in crime rate in Lagos.

This is also attributable to the collaboration of the state government through the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, LSSTF, in the provision of logistic support to the Police Command.