Musa Jibril
Security authorities and executives of Lagos Mainland Local Government have assured Lagosians of improved security during the Eid-el-Kabir festive occasion and beyond following the absorption of additional 30 members into a recently constituted vigilance group on Wednesday, August 7. The local government chairman, Omolola Rashidat Essien had set the tone of the event with her statement that “safety is very crucial and important to the local government, Lagos State Government and the whole country.” Earlier on July 5, the local government held a security summit where a 30-man security committee was inaugurated, and, during which, two Siena buses were donated to police stations at Denton and Iponri police stations, while four motorcycles were given to the local vigilante.
“This conscription of new security-minded persons is an implementation of the resolutions of that summit, as an example and test of the new federal government policy on community policing,” Comrade Musbau Ishola Agbondemu, convener of the group, said.
Giving the rationale for the upgrading of security arrangement in the local government, he attributed it to an influx of unknown faces into Lagos Mainland communities, in recent times as well as recent recruitment activities by cult groups which, oftentimes, transform into robbery incidents.
With the Eid-el-Kabir festival two days away, the development is regarded as timely. Most residents remembered the 2014-2015 Sallah festivals when goons invaded the streets in large numbers and carted away people’s belongings, including live rams.
The new members of the vigilance team, numbering 50 men and women, within the age range of 20 and 55, are mostly artisans and residents of the communities under the local government.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Adegoke, Area Commander, Railway, urged members of the vigilance group to be law-abiding and to cooperate fully with the police for effective crime prevention in the community. His counterpart, Tijani Fatai, Area Commander, Area C, Surulere, reminded the group that its members cannot bear arms and are expected to work in tandem with the police.