Lagos police command creates Tactical Operations Unit to counter crime

THE Lagos State Police Command has created a new unit to reduce the rate of crime and criminality in the state. The unit has been named Tactical Operations Unit (TOU), and it would support the Rapid Response Squad in the fight against crime.

   Making the disclosure during the donation of four patrol vans by Heritage Bank and Etisalat Telecommunications Company, the command boss, Kayode Aderanti, said part of the aims of the unit would be to carry out surveillance on vulnerable areas within the command.

   Appreciating the private companies for their gesture, which he said, was a right step in the right direction towards ensuring a peaceful environment for business to thrive, Aderanti called on other corporate bodies within the state to borrow a leaf from the donors.

   “We now have a Tactical Operation Unit that was created in order to lay out security to support RRS. We will deploy these vehicles to vulnerable points so that when people are leaving and returning from their offices, there would be police presence, to ensure that miscreants, who usually harass them, don’t have a space. 

   The Executive Director, Heritage Bank, Gloria Okpoboma, stated that the donation of two Hilux vans, walkie talkies, ballistic vests and helmets, was part of the bank’s support to complement what she described as the good work the command was doing.

   “Lagos is prime area in the affairs of this country and it is important for everybody to feel safe. We also know that these resources are required to enable the police force do the work that they need to do. They need these resources to enable them perform their duty efficiently.”

   The manager in charge of Central Operation and Intelligence, Etisalat, Mr. Sunny Eleghe, said the donation was part of the telecommunication’s corporate social responsibility to the command and also to support it in the fight towards ensuring a peaceful environment that would promote business.