The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has said that the days of armed robbery and bank robbery in Lagos State are long gone.
Speaking at the Lagos State Security Trust Fund 18th Annual Town Hall Meeting on Security on Thursday, Egbetokun noted that only one bank robbery succeeded in the state since 2007.
“What we are doing here today is the usual assistance that the state government has been giving to the police in the state. Without the assistance that the police receive from the government, we will not be able to do the much we are doing in Lagos State. We would have been overwhelmed with insecurity in Lagos State.
“There was a time that armed robbery, bank robbery was common in Lagos, but I can recall that since 2007 till date, only one bank robbery succeeded in Lagos and that was as far back as 2014. So, the days of armed robbery, bank robbery are gone,” Egbetokun said.
He said that Lagos State being the economic hub of Nigeria has suffered and continues to suffer internal migration, as thousands of people flock into the state every day which according to him has implications for security in the state.
The IGP stated that this makes it imperative for the police in the state to continue to adapt and strengthen security strategies to meet the challenges.
At the event, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu donated over 250 brand-new patrol vehicles, hardware, communications gadgets and protective gear to the police to boost security operations in the state.
In his speech, the governor said his administration is scaling up the use of technology and data to improve security as well as monitoring of traffic in the state.
He disclosed that said drone technology will be deployed to monitor waterways and densely populated areas.
“The EGIS component of our mapping and digitalization has almost been completed,” Sanwo-Olu said.
“Lagos is now properly mapped, and drone technology will be deployed at appropriate levels to ensure that both our waterways and densely populated areas will enhance area monitoring, crowd management and traffic assessment effectively at various times so that we can sit back in our offices and people can see what is happening at locations and can respond accordingly.”