22nd August, 2023
The Lagos State House of Assembly has called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to convene a security council meeting in the State with a bid to stemming the rising spate of killings of residents by men in uniform.
At a plenary presided over by the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, on Tuesday, the lawmakers lamented that the killings have so far taken the same pattern with men in uniform being allegedly mentioned.
Obasa, who stressed that security of lives and property is one essence of government, added: “Where we begin to have one, two, three killings in the State, it definitely calls for concern.
“I quite agree with the prime mover of the motion to call on Mr. Governor to quickly hold a meeting with all heads of security agencies in Lagos State to nip this in the bud.
“At least three people have been declared dead, said to be killed by men in either Police or Army uniforms and we cannot conclude if they are security men or otherwise.”
Reacting to the recent fracas between some Army personnel and officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), the Speaker urged for professionalism and decorum.
Earlier speaking under ‘Matter of Urgent Public Importance’, Hon. Kehinde Joseph (Alimosho 2) called the attention of his colleagues to the recent killings, saying the incidents called for concern.
Joseph recalled that earlier in August, 2023, a resident, Adeniyi Sanni, was murdered. He said there were two other incidents on August 17 and August 19.
“The funny thing is that the series of killings took the same pattern. Adeniyi Sanni’s wife told me that her husband was stopped at a checkpoint by men in military uniforms. They requested for documents which the wife sent through WhatsApp to him. His corpse was later found somewhere.
“Same was the case of Mr. Lawal who was stopped and asked for his documents. They later dropped his corpse in Iyana-Ipaja area,” he said.
He moved that the police be called upon to step up security of the State while the military should fish out the men who perpetrate such crimes with Army uniforms. He added that the Governor should act to stem such killings.
In his contribution, Hon. Bonu Solomon Saanu (Badagry 1) observed that it was becoming increasingly difficult to know a fake security personnel.