Quit crime or leave Lagos, DCP Ali warns criminals

Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of ‘B’ Department, (Operations), Lagos State Command, DCP Muhammed Ali, has read the riot acts to criminals, urging them to leave the state or risk the wrath of the police. Ali said the new government in the state needed to enjoy a crime-free environment to actualize its development mandate for Lagosians.

Ali regarded in Lagos security circles as “silent hero of Lagos security architecture” noted that the command is carrying out an onslaught against criminal elements.

Ali, who acts for the Lagos Commissioner of Police, Mr. Muazu Zubairu, at several instances, said there is no going back as the war against robbers, kidnappers, cultists, ritualists and fraudsters would be intensified and taken to their doors

The Deputy Lagos police boss was also one of the brains behind the success of former Lagos CP, Imohimi Edgal whose tenure recorded the lowest crime regime in the state’s history.

Said he: “The only way to flush out the hoodlums is to be proactive and not reactive. I am the Deputy Commissioner of police in charge of operations, I have been a divisional police officer (DPO) in many places and Area commander in Lagos, so I know the language criminals understand and I also know the terrain. I know their mode of operations. We need massive onslaught against these criminals. Their mindset now is that since there is a new government in place, there would be lapses in security superstructure. I want to warn that there are no lapses; rather we are becoming more formidable and proactive. It is better you leave the state or you repent. I am also warning touts to conduct themselves in an orderly manner and not to cause break down of law and order in the state.

“As the DCP in charge of operations, I have been leading my men to arrest notorious criminals in their hideouts and dens without even firing a shot in most cases. We know in and out of the state and we have credible informants. This is to warn criminals that we are not joking. We act on information and intelligence. We will arrive your criminal den and pick them like snails. We know the time to pick you so that no innocent life will be lost.

“I am advising parents to warn their children to be of good conduct and behaviour. You should not come to beg when your children are picked in bad spots at unholy hours between 1.am and 4.am. To be candid, what would a teenager or an adult be doing in criminal hideouts at unholy hours. We won’t listen to parents who come to beg for their children. I know why I am appealing Lagosians now. It is going to be tough for criminal elements in the state. He who have ears let him hear “.