Lagos police boss seeks enhanced collaboration with private security firms

In furtherance of his administration’s community policing and safety partnership initiative, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Imohimi Edgal, has called for greater collaboration between the state police command and private security practitioners in the state.

He made the call at the weekend when he played host to the management team of a Lagos-based private security company, Strict Guards Security Limited, led by the Managing Director, Dr. Bone Chinye Efoziem, who were at the command headquarters to present to the police 250 pieces of rain coats and 250 pairs of rain boots as part of the company’s Corporate Social responsibility (CSR).

While commending Strict Guards for taking the initiative as the first private security company to present operational gift items to the state police command since he assumed office as Commissioner, Edgal emphasized that private security companies were very relevant in terms of intelligence gathering due to the large number of guards employed to work in various parts of the country.

He noted that the private security companies have not been properly integrated into the security architecture of Lagos possibly due to the fact that the companies were statutorily under the supervision of the Nigeria Security & Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC). The police boss has however; promised that henceforth, the Lagos State Police Command would partner more with the private security practitioners in security-related activities.

Earlier in his speech, the Strict Guards boss, Dr. Efoziem, said “this is our company’s way of encouraging policemen under the able leadership of Commissioner Edgal who has effectively checkmated criminality in Lagos since he assumed office in 2017.”

Strict Guards Security Limited is one of the private security companies licensed by the NSCDC to carry out security related activities. It was founded 23 years ago and according to Efoziem, the company has emerged as a child of necessity with regards to recruitment, training and presentation of physically and mentally fit young men and women as a bridge between security services provided by the police and civil society personnel who are not allowed to bear firearms.