Lagos State Government has procured and deployed security assets worth three billion naira to the Nigeria Police this year.

According to the Government, the security assets are in conjunction with Lagos State Security Trust Fund, with the active support of the Private Sector.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, says the security assets procured and deployed include, one hundred and eighty vehicles, two hundred motorbikes, eight Armoured Personnel Carriers, two water cannons, and other items.

He said this during the fifteenth Annual Town Hall Meeting on Security with The Governor, themed, ”Reconceptualising Safety and Security in Lagos State.”

”Lagos has had to contend with the traditional threats posed by cultism, street gangs, area boys, traffic robberies, kidnapping, land-grabbing, unruly transport operators, and the influx of persons from other parts of the country, fleeing poverty or insecurity in other parts of the country.

”Ultimately, the most important contribution we can make to security is what we do to prevent it from being disrupted in the first place.

”Nowhere is the maxim of ‘Prevention is better than Cure’ truer than when it comes to security; it is much easier and less expensive to prevent crime and criminality in the first place than to try to tackle it, when it has taken root.

”In addition to those physical assets, our interventions have included daily fueling of security vehicles and boats, continuous training of security personnel, and routine maintenance and repairs,” he said.

Sanwo-Olu said government was reviewing its strategies and bringing on new approaches to ensuring it achieved its goal.

He said the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Agency had been reorganised to play a more active role in providing intelligence, in line with the community policing structure.

The governor said the Neighbourhood Safety Agency had been reorganised to provide manpower support to augment the resources of the police, in areas like crowd control, traffic management and other community engagement responsibilities.

He said government would continue to train and retrain all its enforcement agents, while also supporting the federal security agencies to improve their effectiveness.

”We have continued to foster engagements with the various security agencies in the state, demanding that they work together to dislodge criminal elements from our state.

”These engagements have yielded results as we have developed a mechanism in which every agency works in synergy with others, to improve the state’s security architecture

”We are currently restructuring the 112 and 767 Emergency Call Centre to enable it deliver on its mandate, and earn the confidence of the people of Lagos State. In line with our vision of a 21st century megacity, we will deliver a Call Centre that is truly responsive.

”On a related note, we are also progressing on our goal of installing a network of internet-enabled security surveillance cameras across the metropolis,” Sanwo-Olu said.

Executive Secretary Lagos State Security Trust Fund, Dr Abdurrazaq Balogun said “to fully kit a policeman costs at least N3 million.

Balogun said security agencies require advanced training, more equipment that would support an intelligence-led approach to crime prevention (drones, trackers, scanners at city gates, gunshot detection devices) and more non-lethal weaponry.

”To fully kit one policeman with uniform, taser, tactical gear (light, knife, jacket, belt, gloves, knee, shoulder, ankle, and boots) bulletproof vest, ballistic helmet, tear gas, push-to-talk on cellular communication equipment, rain gear, etc, will cost at least N3 million per officer.

”Hence to kit 33,000 police officers in Lagos will cost about N99 billion. This is our reality, if we truly want a highly motivated, and fully equipped police force in the state.

”Truth be told, the needs of security agencies are endless, as they are expected to be prepared for every single possible crime scenario.

”Often, most people do not see how simple solutions to a problem such as providing sniffer dogs creates a whole new expenditure matrix such as housing, feeding, training health care and even providing special protection details for the dogs from drug batons who would seek to kill them.

”Keeping these dogs alone is a very expensive endeavour but the K-9 unit is not too advanced to be included in our security architecture in the state,” he said.

Balogun said that insecurity is spreading from the north to the south and there is the need to be ready, and to build on the capacity to deal with future challenges.

”As with the Theme of today’s event, we need to “Reconceptualise Safety and Security in Lagos State”.

”Our thinking must be from a point of catering for the well-being of the entire populace. Making people realize they can achieve all they can imagine and providing the support they need to succeed.

”This thinking goes beyond just the provision of hard security architecture but also ensures food security, health security, educational security, social economic security, political security,” he said.

Balogun said donor fatigue might have hit the Lagos State Security Trust Fund which formed part of the major drawbacks observed in 2021.

Balogun said only three banks – Zenith, FCMB and Wema Bank Plc donated to the Fund in 2021, while others stayed away.

He said the fund received N1.4 billion in the outgoing year, adding that much of the fund was the payment of pledges made in previous years.

He observed that though the amount looked huge, it becomes insignificant considering the need to keep the state safe and secure for people and businesses to thrive.

According to him, it will cost N3 million to fully kit one policeman.

Therefore, it will cost N99 billion to kit 33,000 police officers in the state.

“It is clear that we are just scratching the surface but like it is said, how do you eat an elephant? – one bite at a time.

“Understanding the problem is key to proffering a solution.

“The Fund has about 15 years of experience and knowledge and can provide necessary guidance to reach the promised land,” Balogun said.

The LSSTF chief said though the law establishing the Fund provided for it to collect levies from all organisations operating in the state, the Fund in its 15 years of existence has not exploited that opportunity.

He said under the year in review, the Fund presented 183 vehicles fully fitted with communications and security accessories, 200 motorbikes, Armoured Personnel Carriers, two water cannons, 167 push to talk cellular communication devices and 1000 level IV bulletproof vest.

Other materials given out by the Fund in the year includes 1,000 ballistic helmets, 15,000 teargas canisters with dispensers, uniforms, 1,000 ballistic fragmentation vests, among others.

These, according to him, are in addition to quarterly routine services of 332 security vehicles, 42 marine police boat engines, purchase of 522 tyres of various sizes, 180 batteries of various specifications, daily fueling of the RRS vehicles and the weekly and monthly fueling support for the Marine police, the Navy and the Air Force.

Chairman, Board of Trustee, Kehinde Durosinmi-Etti, said the Fund has continued to play a pivotal role in the enhancement of the security architecture in Lagos State through successive administrations to date.

He said this is because of the shared understanding of the relationship between development and security, as no meaningful development could be achieved without security.

Duroinmi-Etti, told the town hall that the Fund has continued to play a pivotal role in the enhancement of the security architecture of the state through successive administration because of a shared understanding of the relationship between development and security.

Duroinmi-Etti applauded the commitment of the governor for his steadfast support, as the Fund’s chief fundraiser.

He said: “There is a strong need for you to play your part by contributing to the LagosSecurity Trust Fund to ensure that our security agencies are fully equipped to respond to any security breach.”

Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu said though the year presented a very huge security challenge, especially since the October 20 EndSARS protests, there was no attack on any banks in the state within the year under review.

He said the police armed by the LSSTF have continued to keep the heat on miscreants and criminals in the state.

He said the state witnessed 22 armed robbery incidents while 206 armed robbery attempts were foiled and 1,124 armed robbery suspects were arrested and 1034 were charged to court.

He said four cases of kidnapping were recorded in the year under review and were quickly nipped in the bud.

He said 249 rape/defilement cases were recorded, 250 rape/defilement suspects arrested, while a total of 4,406 vehicles were contravened for plying BRT lanes, while 4,029 social miscreants were arrested and charged to court.

Also within the year, 8,483 motorcycle operators were arrested for flouting the restriction order, while 651 vehicles were impounded for driving against traffic within the year.