Plans by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, to attack Lagos has been revealed.
Police Commissioner, Hakeem Odumosu disclosed this, saying the threat by IPOB to attack soft target in Lagos was being investigated.
He spoke at a Security Summit convened by the Lagos State Government in Lagos.
According to Odumosu, the threat of IPOB to attack is being put on the radar of the Command intelligence gathering and other security services in the State.
In his words, Strategies are being put in place to neutralise their activities, and the Command is soliciting for the support of all and sundry to be vigilant at all times and report any suspicious person or movement to security agencies, Let us adopt the slogan of “when you see something, say something.”
Odumosu said its intelligence report revealed that most miscreants now use abandoned buildings as hideouts and in most cases, initiation camp, saying most of the abandoned buildings were traced to family dispute.
He said criminals use uncompleted buildings, dwelling house and hotels to hibernate before and after commission of crime, and use abandoned vehicles to store their operational arms and their loots and build shanties on abandoned open spaces and convert it to their sanctuaries to commit crimes.
In his words, criminals also use vehicles with covered number plates to perpetrate crimes; illegal fabrication and possession of arms, use of tinted vehicles to commit crimes, among others.
According to him, as a panacea to the above challenges, the Command is imploring government to as a matter of urgency, take drastic steps to curtail the identified security threats, as such steps may include but not limited to: immediate taking over of the abandoned/uncompleted buildings by government, as the buildings might be used for developmental projects that will be beneficial to the citizens of the State.
The Police Chief noted that immediate confiscation of abandoned vehicles found to be used by hoodlums to perpetrate their acts; immediate sealing up of any dwelling house, hotels, being used by the criminals as a hideout and/or launching pad; to locate owners of abandoned open lands converted to sanctuaries by criminals, give ultimatum to develop such lands.
He stressed that where the owner default government is strongly advised to revoke titles to such lands, and take it over for overriding public interest and security of the State; immediate taking over of any structure, building where illegal arms are been fabricated; forfeiture of any tinted vehicle without authorisation in synergy with vehicles that ply one way in the state.