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Lagos deploys assets worth N3bn to Police in 2021 – Sanwo-Olu

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.State requires N99bn to kit 33,000 police officers -LSSTF

 

IBRAHIM QUADRI

 

Lagos State Government in collaboration with the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF) deployed security equipment worth N3 billion to Nigeria Police as a way of support to fight insecurity within the State in 2021.

 

The assets deployed included the following, Vehicles (180), motorbikes (200), Armoured Personnel Carriers (8), Water cannons (2), cellular communication devices, Level IV bulletproof vests, ballistic helmets, and other items.

 

The Executive Secretary of LSSTF, Dr Abdurrazaq Balogun disclosed Lagos needed not less than N99billion to kit its 33,000 police workforce.

 

These were disclosed by the State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the 15th Annual Town Hall Meeting on Security with the Governor at Civic Centre, Lagos.

 

With the theme, ‘Reconceptualizing Safety & Security in Lagos State.’ various stakeholders attended the event including security agencies, traditional rulers, captain of industries among others.

 

Sanwo-Olu said, “Our gathering today is another indication that we are pressing ahead with the Lagos State Security Trust Fund’s vision of “making Lagos the safest, most secure and most prosperous commercial nerve center in Africa”. Our theme – Reconceptualizing Safety and Security in Lagos State — clearly acknowledges that we are reviewing our strategies and approaches to ensure we achieve our goal.

 

“This year, the State Government, and the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, with the active support of the private sector, procured and deployed the following security assets for the use of the Nigeria Police Force: Vehicles (180), motorbikes (200), Armoured Personnel Carriers (8), Water cannons (2), cellular communication devices, Level IV bulletproof vests, ballistic helmets, and other items, worth over N3 billion.

 

“We had the privilege of having the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic, His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari, commission these assets on June 10, 2021 at the Police College grounds in Ikeja.

 

“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.

 

“The Lagos State Neighborhood Safety Agency has been reorganized to play a more active role in providing intelligence in line with the community policing structure, and to provide manpower support to augment the resources of the police in areas like crowd control, traffic management, and other community engagement responsibilities.

 

“We will continue to train and retrain all enforcement agents of the Lagos State government, 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.

 

“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.

 

“Therefore our focus in Lagos State is on programs, policies and projects targeted at social-economic development: the creation of jobs, economic opportunities and prosperity, and the sustenance of hope in the hearts and lives of our people. As you all know, despair is one of the greatest existing threats to peace and security. There is no limit to what people can do when they have lost hope about tomorrow.

 

“As Government, we will ensure that we continue to play the leading role to secure our State. We have demonstrated our commitment in the past, and we remain resolute in our quest to enhance peace and security, with your support and partnership. We shall never relent,” Sanwo-Olu stated.

 

While welcoming the participants, the Chairman of LSSTF, Mr Kehinde Durosinmi-Etti said, “In our country, Nigeria, different security challenges seem to be springing up by the day which makes a lot of Nigerians constantly reevaluate their options for survival and there is a hunger for knowledge of what the government is doing to address these issues.”

 

He noted that the meeting provided opportunities for the Fund to get relevant information directly from those that were responsible for security.

 

The Executive Secretary of LSSTF, Balogun said, “Still keeping things in perspective, please note that about 70 percent of the equipment and logistics used by most of these security agencies especially for the police RRS and OP MESA (Army, Navy and Air Force) were provided through the Lagos State Security Trust Fund.

 

He explained that despite a damning report by the Policy and Advocacy Centre, “the total amount allocated to police formations and commands in Nigeria in 2020 is N403,709,451,000. This amount is broken down to N389,200,192,849 (96.4%) for recurrent expenditure and N14,509,258,151 (3.6%) for capital expenditure. Out of the capital expenditure budget, N572,164,887 was earmarked for motor vehicles and trucks.

 

“By simple arithmetic, if one Toyota Hilux pickup truck costs conservatively N19million in 2020, only 30 of these trucks can be purchased based on this budget for the entire police force in 2020.”

 

He explained that that was the reality , noting “However, we are not perturbed as Lagos has risen above the very many challenges that had faced us in the past with resilience and determination that is second to none.”

 

He also revealed that, “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 N99billion. This is our reality if we truly want a highly motivated and fully equipped police force in the State.”

 

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