Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State on Thursday promised to continue to beef up the security apparatus in the State by providing the required support for the police for effective discharge of their duties.
Sanwo-Olu stated this at the opening of the new Area ‘J’ Police Command administrative building at Elemoro town in Ibeju-Lekki area of the State. The Governor also urged Lagosians to remain law abiding and follow government directives during the COVID-19 pandemic period so as to assist the security operatives in maintaining peace.
Speaking on the newly commissioned building, the Governor said that the building, which has several offices, will serve as a functional holding bay for the police as they carry out their duties even in this lockdown period.
He said: “Our security operatives are doing their job, they are doing a good job and crimes have come down because they have come out. We as a government need to encourage them, we need to give them all of the things they need to function effectively.
“We know there are people who will always want to foment trouble, people with ulterior motives are everywhere but the police are also there to protect lives and property and as the Governor, I am supposed to give them the support they require to make sure they do their job without fear or favour.”
Expressing optimism on the overall output of the State Police Command, Sanwo-Olu said the new facility would further boost the morale of the men and officers who would have one thing or another to do there.
He said other complementary facilities like the conference centre, blocks of residence for the Area Commander, officers’ apartments and equipment are still under construction, saying when completed, Area J police command would be having the full complements of operational base for the efficient policing of the axis.
“It is a befitting Area Command Headquarters, it comes with a complementary office that is furnished, with equipment like CCTV Cameras for them.
“They need to have a conducive work environment for them to be truly committed to what we ask them to do even in the period of lockdown. We think it’s important to handover this facility to the Police so that they can begin to put it to immediate use,” the Governor noted.
The State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hakeem Odumosu thanked the State government for providing the building, promising that security operations within the axis will be improved upon.
He described the gesture as a challenge to the police to do better, noting that with the equipment provided along with the facility will make policing from Maroko to Epe very easy to achieve.
He said: “I want to thank Mr Governor on behalf of the Inspector General of Police for providing the Nigerian Police with this edifice and we want to assure him that security in this axis will not be the same.
“With the equipment provided alongside this building, communication will be better and we shall provide more men to join in the security of this axis from Maroko to Epe to complement the development which is also coming up fast in this area,” he added.
Packaged by Blessing Donatus
