The recent transfer of two top police crime fighters out of Lagos state, has created fears over crime situation in the state.
The officers, Commissioner of Police Kayode Aderanti, who headed the command until last month and Abbah Kyari, who was in-charge of the dreaded Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, in Ikeja, were separately re-deployed to Force Headquarters, Abuja.
While Aderanti will head Administration, Abbah Kyari popularly called ‘Crime Czar’ was posted to an obscure investigative office.
Investigations revelled that close watchers of crime situation in the city are not happy over the development pointing out that, Police authorities may have made an error of judgement in the re-deployment based on the enviable track records of the officers in fighting crime in the state.
One of the commentators who simply identified himself as Alhaji Salawu residing at Mushin area lamented that Lagos is very delicate in crime fighting and should not be thrown open carelessly.
According to him, “ The Commissioner of Police that was recently re-deployed unceremoniously set a pace in fighting crime in the state. I am a prominent member of Police Community Relations Committee, PCRC, and I know what we gained from his style. I am privy to most of the breakthroughs recorded during his brief tenure in office and my regret is that he left when he was on the verge of setting a permanent agenda that will ensure that criminals will dread operating in Lagos.
“In fact , when he was newly posted here, we were told that he was a green horn in crime fighting and will find it very difficult to operate in the city.
However, few months after he assumed office, we started seeing spectacular performances that far distanced him from his predecessors. He, particularly, recorded commendable feats in not just armed robbery but, rampant cases of kidnapping which virtually assailed the state in recent times.
“Recall the nostalgic kidnap of Saheed Kolawole, the Director of Scot Hotel at Odonla in Ikorodu around January this year. Unknown gun men kidnapped and took him to unknown destination after which they demanded a ransom of $200,000 before the victim will be released. As the man in-charge, Aderanti directed a massive manhunt for the kidnappers.
” It paid off after a decoy team of SARS detectives stormed and laid ambush at Owutu in the same Ikorodu, where the kidnappers had directed the victim’s wife to bring the ransom. Eventually, the kidnappers came on a motor bike to collect the ransom and the detectives engaged them in a gun duel which led to the death of the leader of the gang. Through further operation, the victim was successfully rescued and the operational vehicle of the gang also recovered.
Constant and systematic use of decoy teams and technological know-how assisted the command tremendously in cracking many of such cases under Aderanti yet, on the eve of the celebration of a rare achievement of rounding up the notorious gang that routed Ikorodu area through the lagoon, he was shown the way out. What a dishonourable way to reward hard work?”
In the same vein, the Secretary of private cab operators in Lagos, Samsudeen Adeniyi, lamented that the way tested crime officers are being re-deployed out of Lagos will certainly affect the crime situation in the city. ”
The state has been extremely lucky in the crop of officers posted so far to man strategic departments. Take from the time of Okiro, MD Abubakr and Umaru Manko, these fine officers laid the foundation for effective and efficient pursuit of excellence in dealing with crime situations in the volatile city. Unfortunately, the solid foundation they laboured to lay are being gradually eroded and by the time they end up destroying them, there will be outburst of crime in the city. How can somebody remove the indefatigable and tested crime fighter like the former officer in charge of SARS, Abba Kyari?
”The mention of his name alone elicited tremendous fear amongst criminal gangs in and around the state. In fact, the moment SARS under him takes up a case, it will resonate in crime circles all over the country and beyond. Criminal gangs will be on their toes. There is, no doubt, that crime soars in Lagos and the ability of police authorities to control it in the state go a long way to show their readiness to tackle crime generally all over the country.
A combination of CP Aderanti and SP Aba Kyari was the winning team. Unfortunately, the authorities think otherwise. I hope it will not boomerang?
Some officers and men of the force who spoke under the guise of anonymity echoed the same fear over the systematic removal of their colleagues that have proven their mettle in fighting crime in the state, asserting that it may not augur well in terms of motivating others. According to them,” Such movements is routine in the force. Officers should not be allowed to stagnate both in one rank, position and posting. But, that of Lagos is a delicate matter because of its precarious position and should always be treated with carefulness. This is because, when crime rises in the city, the whole country will wear the toga of fear. In the past few years under Cp Manko and later CP Aderanti, Nigerians witnessed unprecedented solutions to crime situations in Lagos. Cp Aderanti nearly made the city a no-go area for kidnappers because of the delicate cases they cracked. Lets hope the new men on saddle will learn the ropes fast enough in order to sustain the desirable momentum if not, we are in for hard times.”
