When stakeholders engaged Lagos CP on security 

By Funke Busari

The Commissioner of Police, CP Idowu Omohunwa has maintained that Lagos and all Lagosians deserve peace amidst insecurity concerns enveloping the state following the Presidential and National Assembly elections held on Saturday, February 25 in the state.

He spoke at a meeting held with some stakeholders to jointly review security concerns and collaborate towards addressing them. 

The police boss said the intent of the meeting was to review current security developments in the aftermath of the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections in Lagos State and the tension and wide apprehension that is emanating from the process. 

His words: “The meeting is to bridge communication gap, arrive at a consensus in our understanding of current security issues, and present a common front to proactively douse undue tensions that could snowball into a major threat to public peace if not promptly mitigated through a multi-stakeholder interactive forum with highly respected personalities like all of you here assembled who are known for your unwavering patriotism, rationality in reasoning, and the courage and foresight to place the overriding security interest of Lagos State above other mundane, momentary and emotional considerations.”

He disclosed that not less than 70 security-related callouts by Lagosians have been made by members of the public.

He said: “Since the conclusion of the exercise on Saturday 25th February, 2023, we have responded to not less than 70 security-related callouts by Lagosians. Instructively, however, nearly 80 per cent of such presumed distress calls was found to be informed by false feedbacks that were largely informed by apprehension and misinformation, and fuelled by fake news from elements that seem to be bent on feasting on the post-election tension to destabilise the peace and order in Lagos State for inexplicable reasons.  

According to him, the few instances that turned out to be real were largely attempts by misguided local urchins to threaten citizens at specific locations. Such were localised, uncoordinated, and unpremeditated and were all promptly mitigated by the police while several arrests were made.  He informed that the police also scaled up deployments across all identified flashpoints and vulnerable localities while also sustaining patrols and visibility policing across the public space in order to reassure Lagos residents of their safety and deter possible mischief makers from manifesting any plan that might be inimical to peace and security across the State.

He added that the police ensured that all efforts are being emplaced, to address the concerns but noted that the major challenge remains the genuine fear of crime by Lagosians on the one hand, and the manipulation of the media space by faceless elements to spread fake news that could fuel apprehension, sense of insecurity, and engender major security threat.

A Lagos-based lawyer, Mr Femi Falana expressed his opposition to the manner the military were used in the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

He said, “I am opposed to the involvement of soldiers monitoring our elections. And it is because of several courts pronouncements in this.”

Sharing his thoughts further, he noted that the stakeholders meeting was coming at the right time, he  expressed optimism that it would provide an opportunity to the events of last Saturday and to prepare for the next election on March 11.

He commended the Commissioner of police for his prompt response on fake news. He then advised, “We must at this forum suggest a mechanism and give us a number where we can pass information to and give us officers who are in charge.

 “To whom much is given, much is expected from the police. Many people were not happy in the monitoring of our elections by the police. I want to suggest that by next Saturday, the Police should be prepared to manage the events of March 11.”

He said “There is a lot of tension in Lagos State. But we are going to appeal to our people to cooperate with the police so that we can live in peace. Let nobody harass anybody for exercising your civic rights.”

He pledged to file court action on behalf of anyone who is harassed for voting for a candidate of choice. He also commended the youth for controlling their anger under provocations and advised that all electoral materials should be provided before the coming election.

Also, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, a right activist, commended the level of patriotism of all stakeholders. She said being an observer in the election, there was cause for concern on the security situation in the state.

 “We have seen cases of harassment and those who break the law. We want to see those who perpetrated devious act brought to book. I want to say we must never shed blood, life can never be replaced.

“Fake news is very dangerous. Drug abuse is also one of the problems that we have. So drug abuse is dangerous and anyone caught will never be spared.”