Residents of Ikeja GRA in Lagos on Thursday donated two Toyota Hilux vehicles to the police for effective patrol of the area.
Receiving the vehicles, the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Ag. CP Imohimi Edgal commended the residents for the gesture and called for a similar partnership to help the police take back neighbourhoods from hoodlums.
The police commissioner also inaugurated the vigilante squad for the area.
“This is community policing and partnership in action. You will recall that we agreed during the town hall meetings that every community should set up vigilante groups
“In partnership, these vigilante men will be attached with armed policemen to make sure that our neighbourhoods are safe, especially between 12 am and 5 am.
“This is to make sure Lagosians not only sleep with their eyes closed but with their windows open if they wish.
“This can be achieved because I believe the people own the neighbourhood and with the partnership, we can kick out the hoodlums and take back our neighbourhoods,” Imohimi said.
He advised the vigilante men to be proactive and quickly identify any black spot in the area for the attention of the police patrol teams.
The CP assured the residents that the operational vehicles would be put to good use and encouraged other CDAs to emulate the gesture.
Mr. Debo Collins, Chairman of GRA Ikeja Residents Association, said that community policing is the way to go and advised the police to involve the people in order to gain their trust.
“There is need to build more on the relationship to gain the people’s trust. This will go a long way in helping the police resolve issues just like it had helped in resolving the Badoo killings in Ikorodu,” he said.
Mr Akin Ademosan, representing corporate residents, urged the police to assist in regulating movements of vehicles and pedestrians in the area.
“One thing I would like the Nigeria Police to do is to come up with a system where everyone in the community can be identified.
“The police should have a database where everyone will be captured which can easily help solve crime cases.” he said.
