Not less than 246 persons were murdered in Lagos between December 2015 and November 2016.
Also within the period, 542 vehicles were stolen and 486 armed robbery suspects arrested, 162 rape/defilement cases reported and 51 kidnapped cases were recorded while 179 crime cases were prevented due to swift response of the security operatives in Lagos.
According to Vanguard account, this year’s statistics, is higher than the previous year when the state recorded 220 murder cases, 44 armed robbery and 25 kidnap cases with 233 stolen vehicle and items worth N1.4 billion recovered.
The state Commissioner for Police, Fatai Owoseni, reeled out the statistics in Lagos on Tuesday
at the10th Town Hall Meeting on Security with the Governor, themed: ‘Optimizing security funding in a recession’ held in Lagos.
The commissioner disclosed the 246 murder cases recorded happened during cultist clashes, gangsterism, youth restiveness and street fights, which ranked highest in the state.
He said:“The menace is most prevalent in areas within Ijede, Morogbo and Surulere Police Area Commands respectively.
‘’This cut across the three senatorial districts of the state. Clashes are mainly for supremacy as well as claim to territories for the purpose of collecting illegal levies from business owners and motorists.
“The gangsters are sometimes employed to settle scores of various types and use as foot soldiers by some very important personalities in the society. ‘’Identified groups include ‘Aye,’ ‘Eiye,’ ‘Awawa Boys,’ and ‘One Million Boys’. Two groups-‘Owonikoko and Happiness’ are made of members with ages between 10 and 14 years,” he added.
He further disclosed that 542 different makes of motor vehicles were reportedly stolen, saying that 65 percent of the vehicles were either removed from where they were parked or driven away by thieves who disguise as drivers and employed by unsuspecting individuals. According to him, 486 armed robbery suspects were arrested while 46 of them were killed during confrontation with the police, adding that 38 suspected kidnappers were arrested and 181 other suspects were arrested in connection with cultism and street fights. Owoseni said within the year under review, 355 distressed robbery calls were received. Of these 85 calls were false, while 179 were prevented due to swift response, just as 91 robbery cases could not be prevented from happening. “Areas within Ogba Area Police Command accounted for the highest number. Fifty-one cases of kidnappings were recorded, with Ijede Police Area Command accounting for the highest number of 47%. ‘’They may not be unconnected with the physical and cultural environment of the area. Most of the communities affected can be easily accessed through the many hidden water/streams and they also have oil pipeline run through them,” he explained. Furthermore, Owoseni said that 213 different firearms were recovered with 2,901 rounds of ammunition and cartridges of different calibres, while 293 motors were recovered, adding that 180 cases of domestic and sexual violence were reported to the police in the last one year.
On why the crime rate increased, Owoseni stressed that the physical and cultural environment of the state remain a major elements, which influenced the nature and pattern of crimes recorded in the state within the last one year. He added that the upsurge in human and vehicular movement into the state has often placed Lagos in a vulnerable state, saying; “Criminals take advantage of the waterways, difficult swampy terrain serves as protective cover for the criminals to perpetrate their nefarious activities.”
Meanwhile, worried by the increase in crime cases, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, has assured residents that his administration would intensify efforts to ensure improvement in security of lives and property in the state.
