LASG pumping more resources to secure State- Omotoso
By Adeola Ogunrinde
Following the spate of insecurity in some of parts of the country, Lagos State government has urged residents not to pani, saying it has put measures in place to ensure adequate security of its residents.
Gbenga Omotoso, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, gave this assurance during an interactive session with journalists in Lagos.
He said the state government is currently pumping more resources to secure the state.
Omotoso said “You will agree with me that we do not just say that Lagos is the most secure state in Nigeria, it is, and considering the kind of pressure that we are having people coming into the state every hour in their thousands, for us to be able to keep this state the way it is then, we deserve a kudos.
“Let me tell you, it’s not because of the fact that we talked about it that the state is secure, it’s because some people are not sleeping while you and I were sleeping. What you do about security is not what you put on the television and splash on the pages of the newspapers, they are strategic and something that must be kept close to your chest. “
He added that security is a business of everyone by reporting issues of security to the government.
The Commissioner said, “But the kind of things that I see in Lagos is what we see in all cities of the world. I tell people when they come to Nigeria and say they are worried about security and I tell them that when I go to some other places like New York, London that I too get worried because people don’t get stabbed at the bus stop in Lagos, they can pick your pocket and all of that if you’re not attentive enough, and that is not enough for people to say there is a security challenge in Lagos. “‘
“All of the guys who were into traffic robbery, a few months ago, we all saw how police paraded all of the people that they arrested and every time it is being reported by posting photographs on how Mr Governor organises his meetings, there is a kind of synergy that you have amongst the security agencies in Lagos, the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, Civil Defence and our own Neighborhood Watch which is very effective, because you find them everywhere.
” They give intelligence information to all the security agencies and besides, Lagosians are also United to ensure that the state is secure, so I feel that Lagos is very secure and its going to be secured, Mr Governor is putting in a lot of resources and attention and you can see that our Neighbourhood Watch, RRS, the Police Command, all their vehicles and equipment to be able to do their jobs as it is should be done. They are very well encouraged and we are going to do more.”
