Police authorities in Lagos have deployed 5,000 officers as part of measures to tighten security in the state during the Yuletide season.
The spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, Abimbola Adebisi, said this in a statement on Tuesday.
“To address traffic management and ensure the free flow of vehicular movement, especially during the festive rush, over 5,000 police personnel have been deployed for traffic duties across major highways, inner roads, and identified traffic-prone areas in the State,” Adebisi said.
The police also said the deployment comprises conventional police officers, tactical units, intelligence operatives to ensure close monitoring of persons or groups of persons whose activities could threaten public peace; marine officers to intensify patrol and surveillance of all waterways to forestall the State from being infiltrated by criminals through the waterways; Special Squads strategically positioned across Lagos State to prevent any breach of security. Area Commanders, DPOs, and Heads of Tactical Units have been directed to intensify patrols, ensure visibility policing, and maintain round-the-clock surveillance across the nooks and crannies of the State before, during, and after the festivities.
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“Deployed officers have been charged to remain professional, courteous, but firm in the discharge of their duties,” the police said.
The Lagos Police Command said it had also held a strategic meeting with the Executive Secretary, Lagos State Security Trust Fund, Ayodele Ogunsan, alongside other security and safety agencies within the State to deliberate on sustainable measures to reduce road accidents and enhance public security and safety.
Additionally, Police Joint Teams of Conventional Police, Tactical Squads, Smart operatives, and other intelligence units have been deployed across the State to further crack down and apprehend suspected traffic robbers, miscreants, hoodlums, and other criminal elements, before they seize the opportunity of the festive season to disrupt public peace in the State.
“Special attention is also being given to the security and safety of places of worship and religious houses, recreational centres, nightclubs, markets, motor parks, and other public gathering points, which are expected to witness increased human traffic and its attendant effects on Lagosians during the celebrations,” the police said.
The statement quoted the Lagos Police Commissioner, Olohundare Jimoh, as assuring residents of the state of “unwavering commitment to the protection of lives and properties throughout the festive season and beyond”.
