‘I won’t say it’s not happening’ — Sanwo-Olu speaks on kidnappings in Lagos

 

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, has spoken on the reported cases of kidnapping in some parts of the state.

 

The kidnap of two farmers in March in Shalabo village, located between Isiwu and Imota areas of the state.

 

In May, there were reports on social media suggesting that gunmen were abducting people on Admiralty Way, Ozumba Nbadiwe Way, Lekki/Ikoyi Link Bridge, and other parts of Lekki.

 

Hakeem Odumosu, the Lagos commissioner of police, had refuted the claim, insisting that it was an isolated robbery case.

Responding to a question on kidnappings in the state during an Arise TV programme on Monday, Sanwo-Olu said he cannot counter the fact that there have been some cases.

 

The governor said residents must be security conscious and adopt basic strategies to protect themselves.

 

He added that members of the public must also report suspicious movements or strange faces to prevent cases of kidnapping.

 

”I will not sit here and gloss over and say that is not happening. These are very serious times and these are very serious issues that we all need to take frontally,” he said.

 

“In Lagos, there have been incidents that we have had and part of the strategy is that all of us need to speak up. See something, say something.

 

“It is really about everybody understanding who is in your neighborhood? Who are the strangers that you are seeing around you? Simple security tips.

 

“You are in traffic, roll up your glass if you have to. Make sure that you are not standing by the street side and holding a phone and talking without being security conscious. These are just very simple tips. You don’t enter a strange vehicle.

 

 “The kind of response we have gotten is that people have gone on unpainted vehicles that they do not know who they are and they just pop in on free ride. You don’t do that.”

 

Sanwo-Olu said the government is taking steps to improve the situation by developing security infrastructure.

 

He said the state is working on providing more security cameras while improving police formation and neighborhood intelligence.

 

”We need to look at our capabilities. We have infrastructural issues,” he said.

 

 “And that is one of the reasons we are building the cameras that we are building, that is why we are supporting the police formation that we have, that is why we are still increasing the number of our recruits on our neighbourhood watch so that local intelligence can be granular.”