THE crime rate in Lagos has dropped by 65 per cent, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode said yesterday at the Second Town Hall Meeting where he rendered his stewardship.
He told members of the audience at City Hall on Lagos Island that recent statistics indicated great improvement in security in the state.
He said his administration between last May and July invested massively to re-energise and reinvigorate the state security infrastructure and bring it to a level comparable to those in other modern cities.
“I am happy to report that our state is a lot safer today as statistics show that crime rate reduced by 65 per cent during the last quarter compared to Year 2014,” he said.
Other steps taking by government to tackle insecurity, he said, included the light up Lagos project where major and inner roads were being lit to keep criminals at bay.
Ambode said: “In the past few months, we have fixed street lights from Berger in Ojodu to Lekki, Ikorodu to Lagos Island, the entire Ikeja axis, Victoria Island and Ikoyi. We are taking this project to every part of the state.
“If we are not yet in your neigbourhood, give us a little time; we will soon be there. As we light up the state, we expect crime to reduce as criminals will have nowhere to hide and operate.”
The governor appealed to individuals and corporate bodies to partner with government by adopting a street and lighting it up, adding that the government will grant such individual or organisation special concessions on Land Use Charge. They will also earn commendation from the state and local governments.
In the last quarter of 2015, he said the government donated 49 transformers to communities that had been in darkness for five years and restored electricity to 63 communities starting from Eleko to Ode-Omi in Ibeju Lekki Local Government.
“We also commissioned the 33kva Electrical Sub-Station in Gberigbe Community, Ikorodu. This is expected to improve electricity in that axis,” he said.
Government, Ambode said, also reconstructed and rehabilitated major and inner roads across the metropolis. Over 300 major roads, he said, had been rehabilitated, adding that 66 major roads are at various stages of completion. Grading and surface dressing of 80 roads will soon be completed in all councils, he said.
The governor listed some of the roads as Afa Nla, Agege, CIPM, Alausa, Ijegun-Ikotun, Mba Street, Ajegunle, 1st and 2nd Avenue, Festac Town, Afolabi Ege Street, Ojo Thompson, Ikoyi 2nd Avenue, Ikoyi, Queens Drive, Ikoyi, Ebute Ero, Lagos Island and Akin Adesola, Victoria Island.
Work, he said, had begun on the fly-overs planned for Ajah roundabout in the Central Senatorial Zone and Abule–Egba Junction in the West Senatorial Zone.
On transportation, he said the government introduced 434 brand new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) buses and flagged off a direct BRT line from Ikorodu to CMS to ensure commuters’ comfort.
Work, the governor said, had also started on the Blue Line Rail Project that will run from Mile 2 to CMS, with seven bus stops, adding that the project is expected to be completed in December.
Commissioner of Police Fatai Owoseni said his command is sanitising the Lagos Island to restore law and order in the state.
Owoseni urged parents to monitor their children, lamenting that many of them are shirking their duty.
The commissioner said he had been frequent on Lagos Island to address the growing crime rate in the area, lamenting that most parents hardly pay attention to their children’s lifestyle.
He said suspected criminals will no longer enjoyed protection in the state because “it is a new dawn”.
According to him, hoodlums on the Lagos Island were in the habit of committing crimes and running into hiding in some houses because of the terrain. He said it was discovered that criminals hide guns and other weapons in abandoned vehicles accross the state.
The commissioner said once the suspected criminals ran inside, their parents would lock gates to enable them escape arrest.
He said: “I saw this thing myself yesterday (Monday), they would leave the gate open, these boys would run in there and by the time police get there, they would shut the gates.
“Even yesterday (Monday), they saw me as I was entering, just to go and talk to them about community partnership with the police, everybody shut their doors. They saw me coming. They don’t want to talk to me. This should not continue.
“Guns are kept in abandoned vehicles, if people are abandoning vehicles on the roads, in whose house’s front are they abandoning the vehicles? It is in these vehicles that they keep the guns. If somebody is abandoning his bus in front of your house, it is for you to tell him to take the bus away.
“What I want to appeal to you is that we should take interest in what our children do, where and where they go and who they associate with.”