6th October, 2011
The Lagos State Police Command says it has mounted surveillance across borders in Lagos State, southwest Nigeria as a result of increase in car theft which are being taken through the borders for sale in other countries.
Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, Mr. Tunde Sobulo spoke on Wednesday at the end of the State Security Council Meeting, saying that the security agencies in the state had put some measures in place to combat the criminals but added that some of the measures might present a little inconvenience to the people.
Sobulo said though crime had observably been reduced in the last few months, the one area security agencies were still experiencing some problems was the case of cars being removed by robbers from where they were parked.
According to him, the security agencies had discovered that the car thieves use the exit points from the state to escape with their loot, adding that extra security had been mounted at exit points to curtail their movement.
He said as a result of these measures, motorists might experience slight hold ups at the exit points of the State, adding, however, that the police have recorded some success since the measures were put in place.
Sobulo advised that car owners should put extra security devices in their cars to frustrate the car thieves while assuring Lagosians of crime-free ‘EMBER’ months but appealed to them for understanding to enable the security agencies carry out their duties effectively.
Sobulo, who attributed the significant reduction in crime in the state to the cooperation among the security agencies, comprising the army, the navy, the air-force and the police, declared, “We have been working together before now and we will continue to work together to make sure that we achieve an EMBER crime free period.
“We have achieved a lot in the last few months. We were able to foil an armed robbery attack on Zenith Bank in Apapa where two suspected armed robbers were arrested right there in the bank. They went there with burglary equipment, gas cylinder and other implements. They were arrested based on the cooperation between the Federal SARS, the Military and the Police,†he said.
At the state security council meeting were the Commander, 9 Brigade, Nigerian Army Ikeja, Brigadier-General Sanusi Nasiru Muazu; Commander 435 Air Force Base Ikeja, Tony Omenyi; representative of Commander Beecroft, Navy Commander, Enoch Bello; representative, Director State Security Service, SSS, Mr. Ejome Okorokwo, Special Adviser to the Governor on Security, Major Tunde Panox and the Governor Lagos, Babatunde Fashola, who chaired the meeting, among others.
—Kazeem Ugbodaga