• Lagos intensifies patrols, deploys additional assets

The Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF) has donated 50 ballistic helmets, 50 bulletproof vests and 100 raincoats to the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Beecroft to strengthen security operations in the state.

The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ayodele Ogunsan, disclosed this during a courtesy visit to NNS Beecroft, where he presented the equipment.

Ogunsan said the intervention was part of the Fund’s mandate to identify and address operational gaps confronting security agencies in Lagos.

According to him, it has become a tradition for the Fund to regularly visit security agencies across the state to assess their operational needs, boost the morale of personnel and encourage commanders.

“We are established as an interventionist agency to address and fill all the gaps that we feel are there. It is very obvious that some people who are responsible for it are not doing it.

“We decided to take it as a responsibility that, as long as you are on our soil here in Lagos and you are a recognised security agency, we take up those responsibilities and fix those gaps. At the end of the day, everybody benefits,” he said.

Ogunsan, however, said the interventions should come with greater expectations from security agencies, stressing that their primary responsibility remained the protection of lives and property.

He said the Fund was particularly concerned about security preparations as the state approaches what he described as a sensitive election period.

“We are trying to be battle-ready so we can have a very hitch-free and seamless election programme,” he said.

Receiving the equipment, the Commander of NNS Beecroft, Commodore Aiwuyor Adams-Aliu, said the items would enhance the Navy’s capacity to support civil authorities and protect lives and property.

Adams-Aliu explained that military aid to civil authority and military aid to civil power was among the constitutional roles of the Armed Forces.

He said internal security operations constituted a major component of the military’s support to civil authorities, noting that several such operations were ongoing across the country.

He expressed appreciation to the Lagos State Government and the Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund for the donation.

According to him, the equipment would support the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Idi Abbas, in ensuring that Lagos waterways and land areas remain safe and secure for legitimate activities.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government had intensified patrols and deployed additional operational assets following recent security concerns arising from the activities of some individuals in certain locations.

Ogunsan said the situation was discovered following an environmental clean-up exercise during which some people were relocated from areas identified as threats to residents.

According to him, the government acted promptly after the matter was escalated, with the governor personally visiting the affected location to assess the situation.

“We sent a lot of warnings to all the people who are doing it that it won’t be business as usual. And I’m about to tell you today that our men have been stationed in some of those areas.

“We’ve increased our patrols, made some patrol vehicles available and provided some gadgets.”