Lagos, Ogun CPs Say No Report Of Armed Robbery

By Ayodele Oluwafemi

The Commissioners of Police of Lagos and Ogun States have disagreed with the public opinion of the apprehension and unrest that trailed the alarm of robbery activities in both states, noting that the reports are false and exaggerated.

In recent days, the hashtags #OgunUnrest and #LagosUnrest generated controversy on the microblogging platform, Twitter, as some residents staying in some parts of Ogun and Lagos States, narrated how armed robbers had been tormenting them especially since the commencement of the Coronavirus lockdown.

In some of the pictures and videos posted on social media, residents were seen engaging in night watch, burning tyres to create fire, and forming vigilante groups to protect their neighbourhoods from armed robbers.

The development ignited the call for end of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) as Nigerians questioned the existence of the squad, in the wake of the spate of robbery activities.

Reacting to this, the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Kenneth Ebrimson and the Lagos State counterpart, CP Hakeem Odumosu, in separate interviews, refuted the claims of an increase in the wave of armed robbery activities in both state, claiming the situation was caused by cult supremacy battles.

CP Ebrimson noted that no single report of armed robbery attack in Ogun State had been reported in the state. According to him the apprehension was even caused by the vigilantes who burnt tyres.

“Up to this time of this interview, there is no single report of robbery attack or injury in anybody. The basic issue, we are contending with is that of cult supremacy battle, and it snowballed to Agbado and we are giving them a fight for their money,” Ebrimson said in the interview on the set of Your View on TVC on Monday morning.

According to him, “the people burning the fire are the people creating the apprehension and I know situation where I have personally drafted policemen to get the details and when they got to that point, they met young boys burning fire.

“I had the opportunity of speaking with some of them through the phone of my patrol commanders and what they are doing is usually aggravating the fear.”

“We are battling with cult supremacy, it is only coming up at this point because there is a lockdown, we have been on the tail of these boys for a very long time and we have been picking them.”

His Lagos State counterpart, CP Odumosu also spoke in the same vein saying that after watching some of the videos of the incidents that appeared on the social media, he believed that the situation was exaggerated.

He described the assertion of increased banditry as a false alarm occasioned by the situation in neighbouring Ogun State.

“I have watched the video, analysed the video, I just believe that it was an exaggeration and some people are raising false alarm.

“Actually, three days ago, there was what I can now call pandemonium from Ogun end, because it had border with Lagos, many people believed that it was from Lagos. Being a police officer, I listened to residents and property owners, I deployed my men from Lagos, there to ensure that people life and properties are safe, even outside Lagos State Police Command territory.”

Just like his Ogun counterpart, he said, “there is no complaint from anybody of any robbery attack, it is just that apprehension, they are coming. That is what led to some people saying, they want to form vigilante group.”

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