That the crime wave is on the increase in Lagos in recent months is no longer in contention. Incidentally, of the nation’s 36 states, and perhaps with the exception of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, Lagos State is respected as the foremost in terms of premium attention to and huge investment in matters concerning security. Working in close collaboration with the police, the state maintains a special security outfit – the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) – which is always on its toes doing good battle with hoodlums at a time. It does seem, however, that the fight has lost steam in the light of recent developments. Beginning from the first quarter of this year, dare-devil armed robbers have successfully raided banks at Lekki- Ajah axis as well as Ikorodu virtually unchallenged by the police. When they raided a bank in Ajah in broad daylight last March, for instance, the robbers killed three policemen and one passerby, operating without qualms for roughly one hour.
In a recent bank robbery in FESTAC Town, the robbers’ stray bullet hit and killed a mother, Mrs. Jane Beluchukwu-Ndirika and her 14-month-old daughter, Nmesoma, right inside their two-bedroom apartment on the top floor of a three-storey building. If, however, reports about the foot-dragging of the police while the robbery operation lasted are true, then there is grave cause for concern.
A woman, Uche, who identified herself as the slain nurse’s friend, and whose visit coincided with the tragic death of Mrs. Beluchukwu- Ndirika and her daughter, was quoted as saying: “… I watched my friend die and I could not do much to help her. Please do not even talk about police because they did not come out. The armed robbers took their time; they were loading bullets into their guns and were shooting and discussing among themselves. From this room, we heard them shouting and telling their colleagues to come out; it looks like they were just enjoying themselves without interruption”.
A neighbour who corroborated Uche’s observation, one Mr. John Irabor, also said: “They mounted their machine gun just by the junction here. They were shooting repeatedly. I am very disappointed with the police because I personally called them. I called the Area Commander and I also called the state command’s Public Relations Officer, who assured me they were on their way. Unfortunately, the police did not show up until the robbers had fled”.
However, the Area Commander, Area E, under which FESTAC Division of the police falls, Mr. Frank Mba, told newsmen shortly after the incident that his Command, on receiving information on the bank robbery at about 8:25am on the illfated Tuesday, promptly dispatched a joint team of policemen from Area ‘E’ Command and FESTAC Division to the scene of crime. “On arrival at the scene, the policemen engaged a gang of armed robbers numbering well over 40, all dressed in military camouflage and armed to the teeth. The police engaged them in a fierce gun battle that lasted several minutes…The hot exchange of fire between policemen and the robbers…forced the robbers to end their operations abruptly”, Mba said. That the robbers fled, abandoning the sum of N27 million they already snatched, as well as 240 live ammunitions and an AK-47 rifle seems an indication that there was truly some kind of police intervention. But the disconnect between the tales of the friend and neighbour of the late Mrs. Beluchukwu- Ndirika equally suggests very strongly that the intervention probably came rather late. Indeed, it is common knowledge that the police have come to be routinely associated with the notoriety of arriving late to crime scenes after the escape of robbers.
Complementing largely unchecked bank assaults by robbers in the state are robberies against residents in their homes and on the streets, especially in traffic gridlocks; cult-gang violence; ritual killings and kidnappings, etc. Gradually, the ‘Centre of Excellence’ may relapse into a jungle where criminals are in charge should the state government and the police fail to stem the tide with the seriousness it deserves. We think it is high time Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led state government and the police revisited the crime-fighting template on ground in Lagos with a view to reinvigorating it. It is now lax. Like every other security agency, the police, if not well kitted, would naturally avoid confronting dangerously armed bandits. It’s like embarking on a suicide mission. Therefore, any condition that is gradually ushering Lagos into a state of anomie should be frontally tackled and the necessary incentives given to the police to reverse what seems to have become their pastime of surfacing at crime scenes when the criminals might have bolted.
