Lagos CP Engages Community on Security Awareness

The Lagos State Police Command has organised a One-Day Security Awareness Stakeholders' Meeting with Community Leaders and Elders at Agbowa-Ikosi area of the state.

Present at the meeting were various members of security apparatus including local security operatives, Agbekoya, Odua People Congress to mention but a few.

The State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, who was ably represented by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, DCP Titilayo Kayode, said that the meeting is meant to achieve a mutual working relationship between the Police and the community at large.

The Commissioner said that all efforts are geared towards eradicating kidnapping, cultism and other social vices from our society. 

He stressed that community leaders, Obas, Chiefs and Baales must continue to give unrelenting support to the police in order to achieve a crime-free society in the State.

According to him, "Police cannot be everywhere at the same time.  It is very important for the public to give adequate information to us.  By so doing, it will make our job easier. We have deployed our men to every nook and cranny of the state so as to combat this menace in totality".

He reiterated that it is of most importance for the public to feed the command with necessary information at any point in time, adding that these so called bad elements are living among us.

"Gone are those days when you can exercise fear that if you give police information, your name will be revealed. We are in the new world of operation now. It is when you come up with information that we can work effectively," he added.

RRS Nabs Four Fraud Suspects

The operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested four suspects for allegedly swindling unsuspecting members of the public of various sums of money.

The four suspects were picked up separately by the operatives in three incidents of fraud in Maryland, Ojodu Berger and Ajegunle between Tuesday and Thursday last week.

 The suspects, Kenneth Umukoro, 36; Uba Utokcha, 41; Joseph Onuoha, 40 and Ikechukwu Okeke, 25, individually owned up to the crime when interrogated at RRS headquarters.

 According to one of the victims, Ibeh Chiwenu, she was going to Ojodu Berger from Ojota when Kenneth Umukoro, driving a metallic colour Toyota Camry, 1997 model with the registration number SMK 886 DK, stopped at the bus stop to pick her.

“As he drove along, he picked another passenger on Kudirat Abiola Way. We were still on Kudirat Abiola Way when the new passenger started a conversation on something like French language with the driver… The driver now pleaded that he wanted to take the new passenger to Customs’ Office on Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, where his goods were seized. It was here that their story changed and I became the subject of their manipulation in connivance with a custom agent and a pastor,” she added.

She further explained, “Under the pretext that the four of us assist the man whose goods were trapped with the custom over export duties, they brainwashed me into releasing my ATM card, led me to withdraw the last N9,000 from my account…. After this, the pastor prayed for me and told me to go home and get more money that my family kept at home.”

The victim further narrated that “All these happened last week. Today, Thursday, my husband and I were standing at the Maryland Bus Stop. I saw the same Toyota Camry with same number plate and a new driver, but beside him was the former driver that lured me into fraud, pretending to be a passenger. I alerted RRS officers stationed in Maryland and they arrested them.”

The two other suspects, Joseph Onuoha and Ikechukwu Okeke were arrested separately but in a similar circumstance on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.

Onuaha, confessed to interrogators that he belonged to a fraud syndicate led by one man simply identified as Toronto, adding that their leader, who is now at large, trained over 40 of them to go out daily in search of would-be victims.

“When we hit jackpot, we share it into five parts. Toronto takes two parts. Two of us in a team share two and we would share the remaining part to others…. Presently, our office in Ajegunle has been busted by the police. Toronto as I was told has relocated to somewhere in Surulere. Whenever we have issues with the police, he comes around to secure our bail,” Onuoha said.

Responding to the development, the Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Dolapo Badmos, said that the police won’t relent on their duties of making the state crime free but warned members of the public to be wary of suspicious dealings.

The four suspects have been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti. 

Police Holds Judo Clinic In Lagos

As part of efforts to flexing muscles and exercising bodies, Nigeria Police Judo Association in conjunction with Nigeria Judo Federation, has organised one-week 1st Inspector General of Police Judo Clinic/Referee Course for all BlackBelt Holders.

The clinic which held at the Police Training College in Ikeja, commenced from Monday 21 to Friday 25th, November 2016.

The Chairman of Police Judo Association and Commander of Rapid Response Squad, ACP Olatunji Disu,  who was at the venue,  disclosed that many Police Judokas had on many occasions represented the country at Judo competitions across the World.

He noted that men of Nigerian Police Force are not only resilient in curbing crimes in Nigeria, but also talented in sporting activities.

"Men of Nigerian Police Force are multi-talented. We have them in football, Judo, basketball, volley ball and many other sports just to mention but a few," he added.

Lagos State Emerges Best Security, Safety Conscious State In Africa

The Lagos State Government has bagged an award as the best security and most safety conscious State in Africa.

At the award ceremony held in Johannesburg, South Africa, and put together by the Security Watch Africa (SWA), the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of Lagos State Police Command emerged as the best anti-crime police squad in West Africa, while the RRS Commander, ACP Olatunji Disu took home the award of the most outstanding police operational officer in West Africa.

The awards were presented to officials of the State Government at the 2016 lecture series of SWA organized in partnership with Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa (SIGLA) and the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.

The lecture, which had the theme: “Tackling Security Challenges In Africa’s Land and Maritime Domains,” was well attended by security experts and officials from across Africa.

Lagos State and its officials, according to organizers of the awards, were honoured in recognition of the outstanding efforts and achievements in securing residents, especially the massive improvement on security architecture of the State.

While receiving the award for the State on behalf of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello, thanked the organizers for recognizing Lagos State, saying that it was gratifying to note that the efforts of government on security were appreciated.

He said ever since emerging as Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Ambode has made safety and security one of the focal objectives of his administration as he believes that there cannot be any development in the absence of security.

 

“I want to assure this gathering that Governor Ambode is very much committed to the security of lives and property of the people of the State and he is not tired of daily improving on the security situation in the State. The Governor believes that businesses cannot thrive in an environment devoid of safety and security, hence the massive efforts and initiatives geared toward security,” Bello said.

On his part, RRS Commander, who took time to lecture the gathering on the duties of the RRS, said being a unit of the Lagos State Police Command, the Squad is responsible for robberies and emergencies like collapsed building and other related situations.

He said the RRS is usually the first responder in emergency situation, adding that the Unit was also blessed with highly dedicated officials who carry out 24-hour job on a daily basis.

Speaking on the awards to RRS and to him, Disu said: “We like to appreciate the awards given to us and this will surely go a long way in motivating our men back home to know that everything they do is appreciated because the belief of an average police man in Nigeria is that police job is a thankless job and nobody appreciates what they do, but the awards will also spur us to better serve the people,” the RRS Commander said.

Man Uses Nude Picture Of Female Victims To Blackmail

A 35 year-old man, Michael Atanda, who  has been threatening to expose nude pictures of four ladies on the social media if they fail to pay  money into his account has been arrested by the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Police Command.

Atanda, a computer science National Diploma holder of a popular computer school based in Ikeja, was arrested on Thursday by the Decoy Team of the Rapid Response Squad after about five days of baiting and monitoring.

Atanda, an ex-convict and a father of three, had collected N121,000:00 from his four victims with the threat, but wanted the ladies to pay more or face the consequences of leaking their nude pictures on social media.

Disguising as Segun Bayo on Facebook and a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Atanda said he went about adding several ladies on Facebook. And, that after two weeks, he would start chatting with them. 

“The profile picture on my Facebook account is that of a guy based in London, and so as part of my introductions to ladies, I tell them that, I am a Construction Engineer as well as that my parents and I am living Europe…. After sometime, I would lure them into sexual conversations during which, I persuaded them to send their nude pictures to me. They would send and I would send mine to them too," the suspect said.

"Before that I would pretended that I was seeking a serious relationship with them, and that very soon, I would be coming to Abuja on a business trip, during which I would see them…. I would again feign my seriousness by calling them with the aid of computer software that transforms my Nigerian line into an international line. Meanwhile, I would warn them that I was calling through a public phone booth,” he stated.

He noted, "As soon as they have sent their nude pictures, I would come up with all manners of stories. I would begin to extort and blackmail them. Through this means, I have collected over N121, 000:00 from my latest victims.”

He further confessed that “I was jailed last years in a similarly circumstance after fraudulently collecting N700, 000:00 from a lady I met through a dating site. I was eventually bailed but the case is still pending in court…. I have collected only 10,000:00 from Funmilola, Motunrayo N6,000:00, Janet, N5,000:00 and Lizzy N100,000:00.”

Out of the 210 friends on his Facebook, over 195 are young ladies. Apart from Lizzy, who reported the incident but declined to press charges, three other suspects, who were discovered during investigations, acknowledged on phone calls that they have been paying the suspect so that he doesn’t leak their nude photographs online.

Even though investigators have reached out to more victims after checking the suspect’s Facebook conversations with a number of ladies. All of them have refused to come forward, after confirming they were paying the suspect through his bank statement.

Atanda also opened a bank account with the same name, Segun Bayo, in one of the old generation banks.

Confirming the development, the Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Dolapo Badmos, said that the Police were carrying out a thorough investigation on the case to aid prosecution. The suspect has been transferred to SCID for further investigations.

'We Survive By Stealing Phones And Robbing People In Oshodi'

One of the two suspects arrested by the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of Lagos State Police Command has disclosed that he and other teenagers in Oshodi survive by stealing and dispossessing passers-by of their phones and other valuables.

The suspect, Yusuph Ahmed, 19, from Offa, Kwara State, said this to interrogators at the RRS headquarters in Alausa, Ikeja, on Friday afternoon.

Ahmed, who was arrested in Oshodi on Friday after dispossessing a passenger of his phone, stated that he along with other teenagers sleep in Oshodi under bridge and that it is from there they eke out a living by stealing phones and robbing passers-by of their valuables.

The arrested suspect, who had been sleeping under Oshodi Bridge since he was 13, stressed that even though he does not follow those who rob amongst them out all the time, he knows all of them.

He narrated that “I sleep in Oshodi Under Bridge. We are over 60 teenagers sleeping there. The adults sleep in Ori – Pako. I was 13 years old when I started sleeping there. I keep my clothes there…. I sleep around 8:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. There are some of us who do not sleep at all. They are the ones that alert us whenever the police is around. There are equally some who do not sleep because they go from one place to the other in Oshodi to rob. They rob late at night and very early in the morning."

He continued: "After the death of my mother, my father abandoned us. He stopped taking care of us leaving us to fend for ourselves. Even the school, he stopped paying the monthly N600. I had to resort to packing granite to pay the monthly N600 for school fee."

"At a point, I couldn’t cope with the fee. I was just 12. I dropped out and I decided to run to Lagos. Since then, Oshodi Under Bridge has been my home. Any phone I stole, I sell to Mohammed or Kudus. They are beggars in Oshodi. They buy most of the stolen phones from us,” the teenager added.

However, the stolen phone, a Tecno Y6, was recovered from Ahmed’s brother.

The second suspect, Yusuph Agbaje, 25, from Oyo State, was arrested in Agege for stealing a Blackberry curve from a commuter.

Responding to the development, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent of Police, Dolapo Badmos, said that the Police would leave no stone unturned in getting rid of criminal elements within the state, urging parents to monitor the activities of their wards.

The suspects have been transferred to the Lagos State Task force on Environment for prosecution.

Recognition of Police Efforts

In recognition of his tremendous effort in reducing crime rates in Lagos State, in particular, Ajegunle axis, the Chairman of Ajeromi Ifelodun Community Development Committee, Olatunde Balogun, presenting award's plaque to the RRS Commander, as The Most Friendly Community Man of The Year in Ajegunle.

Executives Members of Ajeromi Ifelodun community development committee in a group photograph with the Commander of RRS during presentation of award's plaque to the commander in his office on Friday, November 5th, 2016

L:R: Taiwo Adekoya, Auditor; Mrs Olaide Elegunde, Community Woman leader,; RRS Commander, ACP OLATUNJI DISU; Olatunde Balogun, Community Chairman and Wemimo Awolowo, PRO, during presentation of award to the Commander in his office.