Lagos Vows To Weed Out Bad Eggs From KAI

The Lagos State Government has vowed to weed out corrupt officials from the Kick Against Indiscipline, KAI, Brigade.

This follows the suspension of two KAI officials who demanded N800,000 bribe from a trader.

A statement from the Ministry of the Environment said government would continue to expose any corrupt official of the KAI Brigade caught in any act of extortion or engaged in actions that could tarnish the image of the paramilitary outfit.

According to the statement, information was received from KAI Headquarters about Femi Ajayi and Samuel Awoseyin who had perfected plans to extort money from traders at Iddo market.

“Unaware of the new internal corruption tracking machinery put in place by the management, the officers fell into the trap and were apprehended by the crack team.

“The two officers are presently being investigated and appropriate disciplinary action will be taken,” it said.

The government, however, urged members of the public to be vigilant and ensure that they collaborate with the state government in its on-going reorganization and re-engineering of the KAI Brigade as it would not condone any act of extortion or gratification in any form.

“Members of the public are encouraged to always resist demand for gratification from any member of the brigade as the organisation is not a money making venture, but rather report such official to the Permanent Secretary -Ministry of the Environment, for appropriate action.

“Lagosians are further assured that the on-going reorganization and reorientation is gradually yielding fruitful dividend as the two officers being investigated were caught by the internal zero free corruption strategy newly introduced by the management of the brigade,” the government said.

The government added that the new vision of management will come up with a new KAI that enforces the law with civility, as well as engage in advocacy of the citizenry rather than use of force.

It added that “our intention is to promote a willing citizenry that will voluntarily key into the state environmental sanitation programme, without the use of force and attain a cleaner and sustainable environment that will be conducive for the economic wellbeing of all and sundry.”

—Kazeem Ugbodaga