New CP vows to deal with criminals in Lagos

Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Idowu Owohunwa, has promised that the police command under his watch will be hard on criminals and their networks. While taking over from Abiodun Alabi, yesterday, at the command headquarters, GRA, Ikeja, Owohunwa also promised that the command would be civil with law-abiding citizens and respect their rights.

According to him, actions that will address issues impacting seamless police-public trust and partnership will be initiated and details as well as that of Broad Policing Action Plan for Lagos shared with the media.

He said: “Having had the privilege of serving in the state at some point in my policing career, and from my vantage position and schedules as Principal Staff Officer (PSO) to different Inspectors General of Police (IGPs), with schedules including monitoring policing issues across the country daily, I can confirm that I have a deep and practical knowledge of the values and expectations of the government and good people of Lagos, particularly in relation to how they expect to be policed.

“I also understand and appreciate well enough the complex dynamics in the task of providing policing leadership for a command with a mandate to police a state that is reputed to be the fifth largest economy in Africa.”

Acknowledging the complexity of Lagos, the CP said: “While Lagos presents a unique security challenge on account of its demography and socio-economic interplays, it also prides itself as the state in which successive governments in the state, particularly the incumbent, have mainstreamed policing and public safety. I know not of any state in this country that dedicates so much resource and situates law enforcement in the front burner in public discourse than Lagos.”

On his part, Alabi said: “For the forthcoming elections, we have reached an advanced stage in our election security preparations under the Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), headed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and having the police and other security agencies on board. I trust my successor to seamlessly continue with the plans and deliver a safe atmosphere for the elections.”

Owohunwa also promised to embrace strategic policing and application of technology to tackle crime in the state. During a courtesy visit to the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, at Iga Iduganran, Lagos Island, yesterday, he said: “Lagos is unique. My task has been made easy. I will deploy intelligence, ensure the application of technology and strategic policing approach to advance what my predecessor has already achieved. This can be achieved with the cooperation of the citizens.”

Responding, Akiolu said he spent 32 years in the police force. He described police work as an egg, adding: “If you hold it too much, it will break; if you don’t hold it well, it will fall.