Lagos CP’s charge to Ikorodu traditional rulers

FOR  some time now, tension between the police, community leaders, and people in the Ikorodu area of Lagos state has been on the edge of boiling over. The chief cause is the nefarious activities of gangs of kidnappers and pipeline vandals who have held the community hostage for the past several months, all the while eluding the dragnet of security operatives. Last month, the shadowy criminal gangs committed their most dastardly act so far when a group numbering more than 20 sacked the hitherto peaceful Yewa, Isawo community, killing six people, including four policemen and an Army Captain.

To say that this incident has negatively affected the already sour mood between residents and law enforcement is to state the obvious, and last week, it must have weighed heavily on the mind of Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, Fatai Owoseni, as he addressed the Ayangburen of Ikorodu, Oba Abdul Kabir Adewale Shotobi and other traditional rulers in the area. In his address, the Commissioner of Police, clearly frustrated by the command’s failure thus far to apprehend the perpetrators of last month’s attacks, pointed the finger at certain community leaders, presumably for harbouring, sponsoring and generally giving succour to the criminals.

The commissioner’s statements, as reported by several media outlets, deserve to be quoted in their entirety: “Some of the Baales and chiefs supply food to these militants. Most of the Baales you have in Ikorodu are spies for these vandals and militants. This is why I am here. We need the traditional institution to come out boldly. If we join hands together, we can arrest all these bad boys. The speculation is that it is the traditional institution that is sending these boys to take people’s blood. We believe it is not true, but the traditional rulers should rise up against the killings. We need the traditional institution to come out boldly. Your farmers and fishermen know these kidnappers and militants but there is conspiracy of silence. They don’t want to expose these criminals. Partnership with you would help us fight these criminals effectively. Ikorodu axis is leading in kidnapping, pipeline vandalism and ritual killings.”

From the foregoing, it would seem that Mr. Owoseni is convinced that the entire Ikorodu community, including farmers and fishermen, are involved in a grand conspiracy against the officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force. But how can this be when the same Ikorodu community (both traditional rulers and ordinary people) has suffered in the hands of the murderous vandals? For instance, in the April attack, not only were scores of defenceless citizens abducted, their whereabouts remain unknown.

Mr. Owoseni’s frustration is understandable. The kidnappers launch their raids in speedboats that are not easily available to his men. In addition, they tend to be armed with guns and other lethal weapons that often leave law enforcement straggling. Finally, they attack repeatedly and at will, exposing a wide gap in the intelligence infrastructure of the police. Even so, this does not justify automatically holding traditional rulers culpable for crimes committed in their domains, crimes that, as already pointed out, have not left the rulers themselves unscathed.

In his response to the Police Commissioner, the Ayangburen was a model of restraint. We commend him for not taking Mr. Owoseni’s bait, hence leaving the door open for fruitful collaboration with the police. The police, traditional rulers, and law-abiding citizens of Ikorodu have to be on the same page if permanent peace is to return to the community. Hurling accusations and pointing the finger will only delay that eventuality.