LAGOS— LAGOS State Police Commissioner Mr Israel Ajao yesterday declared that henceforth both Area Commanders and Divisional Police Officers would join in monitoring activities of men on stop and check routine job.
The command's boss who did not exempt himself from the exercise, said the monitoring would be done mostly at night, warning policemen who still indulge in the illegal act to desist from it or stand the risk of being shown the way out.
Addressing men and officers at both Area ‘G’ and ‘H’, Ajao said, “We are planning our strategy since preaching will not work. The Area Commanders and DPOs will henceforth start going out to monitor your activities, especially those of you on stop and search routine job. You will also see me at odd hours, both in the afternoon and at night. This is to ensure that the issue of extortion of money from motorists is brought to the barest minimum.
“If you are caught, you will forfeit everything; your years of service, your entitlement and your barracks, all just because of some squeezed twenty naira notes. So, stay out of trouble”, he cautioned.
Disclosing the additional 12.5 % in salaries, with the payment of arrears from October 2003, which he said would be paid by June or July, he enjoined them to put more efforts in their work, saying, “to whom much is given, much is expected”.
The command boss also warned the men over the indiscriminate use of fire arms on harmless and innocent citizens, even as he promised to equip some of the area commands which had logistics problems such as communication gadgets.
The CP who warned armed robbers to stay out of Lagos, said they would meet their water-loo if they remained adamant as security measures had been put in place to nip in the bud, robbery activities. Already, he said 31 armed robbery suspects had been arrested while 37 assorted firearms and 156 rounds of different ammunition have been recovered since his assumption of office as the state’s commissioner of Police, pointing out that this is just the beginning.
Meanwhile, the command has arrested three robbery suspects said to be terrorissing Ajegunle, a suburb of Lagos. The four-man gang was said to have been engaged in robbing traders returning from the popular Alayabiagba market at night before luck ran against them.
They were said to have succeeded in collecting a bag from one of their unsuspecting victims and were about attacking another woman when they sighted a team of Operation Fire For Fire policemen who were on patrol. They immediately took to their heels. But three of them were arrested while the ring leader escaped.
According to Mr. Israel Ajao a local pistol, four rounds of ammunition and some handbags containing various kinds of GSM handsets, bank identity cards and over N10,000 were recovered from the suspects.
