AKPOYIBO ORDERS CRIMINALS OUT OF LAGOS
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police (CP), Marvel Akpoyibo, has assured Lagosians that the current tempo in crime fighting shall be sustained until the state is rid of all criminal elements. According to him, his position is in tandem with his clarion call on all the criminals to either repent and stay or pack their load and leave the state for good.
The commissioner said this during a two-day tour to Lagos State Police Command by the Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG Azubuko Udah, in charge of Zone 2 Command comprising Lagos and Ogun states.
In his welcome address, Akpoyibo described the AIG's visit as a great privilege for the officer and men of the state command to share from his wealth of experience.
'Indeed, our command considers your well deserved appointment as the AIG in Zone 2 as a glorious wind blowing across the zone' he said.
According to the CP, the Lagos State Police Command was created in May 1967 with four Area Commands and twenty-two Divisions. It was meant to cater for a population of over two million people. He stressed that with the passage of time, the population of the state has grown to its present size of about eighteen million inhabitants.
He said: 'the state has equally witnessed a corresponding growth in infrastructure and industrial development. Today, Lagos is being touted as a mega city. Expectedly, the state command, in a bid to cope with the increasing demand for the provisions of security and maintenance of law and order has doubled in size to eight Area Commands, ninety-seven Divisions and seventy-four police posts with a strength of twenty-eight thousand, one hundred and thirty-four personnel.'
He further stated that the current national and international opinion is that Lagos has become the economic hub of Nigeria and sub-Sahara Africa adding that over three quarters of bank headquarters are located in Lagos and has the largest sea and airports in the country.
The commissioner posited that taking into consideration the various criminal tendencies, which always characterise mega city, the patterns of crime are naturally expected to be on the increase.
Akpoyibo stated that with the efforts of officers and men of the command, the statistics for successful bank robbery has fallen from nine in 2007 to two in 2008 and one in 2009. He pointed out that 58 days into the year, the command has not recorded any bank robbery.