The Lagos State Taskforce in its bid to rid the city of criminal elements and maintain safety and sanity implemented the THEMES PLUS agenda of the State Government, as it commences the second phase of raids on criminal hideouts.
Speaking on the series of raids carried out across the State, the chairman of the Lagos State Taskforce, CSP Shola Jejeloye divulged that these set of raids are part of the planned actions mapped out by the Taskforce to further maintain safety and serenity across every nook and cranny of the State.
He said that multiple raids, surveillance, patrols and other security tactics had all been implemented in the past quarters of Y2023, which has led to planned strategic operations for the year’s final quarter.
“It’s our job and responsibility to ensure that criminal elements in Lagos do not have it easy that’s why we constantly raid their hideouts right after carrying out surveillance activities to ascertain the exact location where they operate from. In the last week, we have arrested 56 suspects from different locations like Moshalashi Agege, Akekoto, Ojota, Oshodi and Iyana Ipaja.
CSP Jejeloye further confirmed that harmful weapons like jack knives, adjusted spark plugs and sharpened screwdrivers were recovered from some of the suspected miscreants rounded up at Agege.
“It is not new to find substances suspected to be hard drugs like cannabis or heroin in the possession of some of these individuals rounded up. One of them even threw out a pack of cannabis from the vehicle after he was arrested and was being transported down to our office, but we noticed and stopped the vehicle to recover the item which will be tendered in court as evidence.”
The chairman also stated that the agency would pay more attention to the Ojota axis due to the number of hard drugs recovered in the raid carried out last night. He decried the rate at which some of the miscreants arrested uttered incoherent words due to the hard drugs they had ingested.
“The effects of hard drugs on any individual is that it alters the ability to think or reason properly that’s why most hoodlums who ingest such resort to crime. We recovered a reasonable amount of hard drugs from the 15 suspects apprehended at Ojota alone and I must confess it is quite disheartening seeing these set of youths take to a life of crime,” the Taskforce chairman stated.
CSP Jejeloye disclosed that all suspects arrested during the raids will be profiled accordingly and anyone found suspicious will be charged to court accordingly.
He assured Lagosians that the Taskforce will continually adopt all legal security methods and strategies to ensure that residents can sleep with both eyes closed. He warned criminal elements, especially those who lurk in the shadows looking for who to prey on that the long arm of the law will catch up with them soon and they will be made to answer for their crimes.
“Criminality will be stamped out for good and we will not rest until that is finally achieved,” the Taskforce chairman concluded.
