Lagos State governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Monday said a long list of abandoned buildings across the state which may serve as safe haven for criminals, had been compiled, assuring that the state government would be taking proactive action towards ensuring that the affected buildings do not become security threats in communities where they had been found.
Such buildings are believed to serve as hideouts for criminals who use them to plan attacks and now the government plans to take control of such buildings, a decision arrived at during a consultative meeting on security held last month in the state.
Sanwo-Olu made this disclosure while speaking during a live interview on Arise TV, where he shared details of his administration’s achievements in the last two years.
Governor Sanwo-Olu, who spoke against the background of the rising spate of kidnapping and criminalities in some states across the country, assured that the state government remained at alert to prevent the spillover of criminalities from neighbouring states into Lagos.
This was just as the governor reiterated his call for the establishment of State Police.
He said:8 “Two days ago, I receive a report of abandoned buildings across the State from Neighbourhood Watch. The list is about 250 pages with addresses and pictures of the buildings. These are some of the places where criminals and miscreants hide to launch their activities. We are passing this list to security for immediate response and actions.
“This surveillance speaks to the necessity of State Police. All the preventable criminalities happening are because we have not agreed as a nation that there should be the state police.
“We have been an advocate of State Police and it is one of the submissions I made at the recent public hearing on a constitutional amendment in Lagos. State Police is a force whose time has come. Whether it is Amotekun or Neighbourhood Watch, these are all pointers to the necessity of states to have police to make them stronger.
“All the kidnapping and killings we have been witnessing can be nipped in the bud. Our challenge in Lagos is not having forests where kidnappers hide; it is more about cultism. I need to think global but localise my response to these challenges,” he said.
Speaking further, Governor Sanwo-Olu said his administration was on the verge of recruiting additional 1,500 men into the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC) to boost intelligence gathering in local communities and aid security agencies to quickly respond to crimes.
According to him, the state government had, in the last six months, collaborated with the police to strengthen community policing in addressing localised crimes and checking activities of cultists, saying that the state government gave the police 1,250 men from the state’s Neighborhood Watch.
He, however, stressed that the strategy would be effective if residents remained vigilant and offered information on strange activities in their neighbourhoods.
On whether the state would ban commercial motorcycles, popularly known as Okada, Sanwo-Olu said the government was providing an alternative to the motorcycles with the First and Last-Mile minibuses, adding that thousands of them would be pushed into the system.
The governor, however, disclosed that transport unions had reached out to the state government on the regularisation of informal transport services, including Okada, saying efforts were underway to leverage biometric data for approval of commercial motorcycle operation in areas where it had not been proscribed.
Sanwo-Olu, while speaking on the recent progress recorded by the state in its response to infectious diseases, revealed that Lagos now had the capacity to detect new variants of Coronavirus (COVID-19), given procurement of the latest PCR machine.
According to him, this came ahead of the move by the state to build a world-class Infectious Disease Centre in Yaba to support research for diagnosis and treatment of contagious diseases in future.
On the suspension micro-blogging site, Twitter, by the Federal Government, Sanwo-Olu said President Muhammadu Buhari as the Commander-in-Chief, might have some security information, which he as governor was not privy to, pointing out that he won’t say what the Federal Government or Twitter had done was right or wrong, adding: “What I see is that, on both sides, there are issues that can be resolved.”
“Mr President, who is the Commander-in-Chief, may have some security information, which I do not have as a sitting governor. I won’t say what the Federal Government or Twitter has done is right or wrong. What I see is that, on both sides, there are issues that can be resolved.
“So, in this period of suspension, let us sit and have a conversation. Had it been Twitter has an office in Nigeria, issues would have been resolved a lot quicker. In other climes, Twitter signs agreements on the rule of engagement. I don’t think that has happened here. The Federal Government, I believe, can handle the issue a lot better, because of the number of e-commerce firms and youths that are engaging in digital stuff.
“I believe there should be a lot of restraint and better management from both sides. I’ll plead that both sides come together in the next one or two days and resolve this. We should not politicise this issue. People are losing money and economies are being destroyed, but there are also security issues. I am ready to give quality advice on what needs to be done if I’m called upon,” Governor Sanwo-Olu argued.
On the repeal of Pension Act for former Lagos Governors and military administrators, Governor Sanwo-Olu said it was a popular action taken by his administration to cut spending and improve good governance, declaring that there was no need for any pension for ex-governors in Lagos as he won’t be earning any pension after his tenure.
“There is no need for any pension for ex-governors in Lagos. I won’t be earning any pension after my tenure,” the governor said.
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