The Lagos State Police Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni in an interview with THIS DAY has boasted that the Nigeria Police Force is one of the best in the world and spoke about his vision of making Lagos State crime free.
Read excerpts below;
CP, it seems that crime is back on the rise in Lagos State. Even home invasions by armed robbers which seemed to have dwindled to an all time low, seems to be happening frequently again. What are the reasons for this?
I disagree with that assertion. Crime is not on the increase in Lagos, as you have asserted. I don’t know what data you have to back up that assertion, but I clearly disagree with you that crime is on the increase. We have not been having home invasions as you have put it, but the bottom line is that there is no society that is free from crime. What you hear people talking of when they talk of crimes, is that of one incident which may have happened and is continually discussed in the media for another 3 months, meanwhile people will think that it is just happening. But I can tell you that the Command has risen to meet its statutory responsibility to make sure that we manage crimes to a tolerable level in the Command.
Is the Police adequately funded by Government? What effect does lack of adequate funding have on the Police Force in terms of carrying out its duties effectively and efficiently? What would be the ideal amount to be budgeted for the Police in a megacity like Lagos which is so densely populated, as opposed to one of the smaller states, to ensure better security in the State?
Hardly can you say that an institution is adequately funded. There will always be something that is left out. Of course, the government is the father of many children that have to be catered for. We are looking at security which is paramount, and also education, health, roads, catering for the old and the young people. So, in the midst of that, the government should also prioritise. Adequate funding of a government institution is a tall order. That should be an utopian thing. But government must cater for every institution to the extent to which its lean purse can support.
It is important for us to know that security, which is paramount, is the most expensive part of government expenditure. And that is why the government has also been saying that in addition to government funding, all hands must be on deck, together, in raising our Police to the standard that will make it perform effectively well.
The Nigerian Police Force seems to have a lot of catching up to do in terms of technology especially for crime detection. There is absolutely no comparison with crime detection techniques in Nigeria and that of foreign countries like the UK and USA. What are you doing to step up your game in terms of acquiring this modern technology and equipment, which would certainly make crime detection easier? Does the Police even have a finger print data base for criminals?
That is why it is good to have this kind of interaction. I think that the narrative has since changed. The Police that we have today in Nigeria will compare in terms of application of technology to investigation. You know that intelligence matters and that is why we have been doing a lot of intelligence led policing and getting to the grassroots to interact with people. We have this Police Community Relations Committee.The Inspector-General of Police also introduced the Eminent Persons Forum. It is in order to spread ourselves to the grassroots, to be able to get information from members of the public. Its starts from there. Even where you have the most advanced technology, you still need the people. The best CCTV you can think of is human beings. It is not the camera itself as people say.
We talk of finger prints, except you are not following, that is part of what we are doing with the tinted glass permit, which is being biometrically captured. There is a Central Criminal Registry where we keep data. That is why we have been telling members of the public that, if you want to employ domestic servants, come to us. We’ll take the finger prints, we’d be populating the data.
Beyond that do you think it is a herbalist we consult when kidnappers are arrested? We have done real rescue operations in the Command. We did it here when a medical doctor was kidnapped. Tracing where the doctor was kept, and liberating him. It was not by consulting a herbalist, that we knew where the victim was kept.
Take the ones that have made the headlines, like the Turkish International School, the kidnapping of the Oni Iba of Iba, we secured the release of these persons. Immediately thereafter, the suspects were being arrested, even with the share of whatever bait they must have collected. Its not through consulting an “Opele”. It is technology!
When you talk about technology, as per the hour, there is improvement. Even in those advanced countries, they still commit crimes and it takes time to solve. You talk of detection and investigation, we are just people that are always impatient. Here, we hardly recognise and follow processes. We just want to jump from one to ten. In some other places, they are painstaking, even with the advanced technology, investigation and detection may take years. But here, its cut and nail! You just want that, someone is killed now, in another one week the criminals must be got. In the course of rushing things, we make mistakes.
If you are talking of the challenges and what probably affects our detective abilities and investigations, it’s more of the people. You will hear the shout of “thief thief, ole ole”. You get there and they are about maltreating the suspect. By the time you pick the suspect up, sleep in that area for 24 hours, not a single person will come out to say that ‘this is what I saw the person doing’.
Do you have a DNA facility for criminals?
How many countries have that as well? In the UK they have. Everybody talks about America. But you need to first talk about the basic things. If those basic things are not available you don’t jump from one place to another. Of course, you know the Lagos Sate Government is building a DNA laboratory. To some extent, we used to have a forensic lab at Oshodi. There are cases that have been done there, especially when that air crash took place. Some of our experts use them, but it’s the spread. You can say its not widespread.
Even in those advanced countries, they also still send samples to other places. So, its not as if one country or one state in the US or UK is all sufficient. Its what you have that you use. But I want to tell you that the Police that we have today can match any police anywhere. Its just the way we look at our police. Just like you see a constable or a corporal on the road, and you think he is nobody, No! some of these corporals and sergeants you see on the road, have a second degree. But unfortunately, members of the public always think that the policemen are from the dregs of the society, no, that narrative has changed.
Read excerpts below;
CP, it seems that crime is back on the rise in Lagos State. Even home invasions by armed robbers which seemed to have dwindled to an all time low, seems to be happening frequently again. What are the reasons for this?
I disagree with that assertion. Crime is not on the increase in Lagos, as you have asserted. I don’t know what data you have to back up that assertion, but I clearly disagree with you that crime is on the increase. We have not been having home invasions as you have put it, but the bottom line is that there is no society that is free from crime. What you hear people talking of when they talk of crimes, is that of one incident which may have happened and is continually discussed in the media for another 3 months, meanwhile people will think that it is just happening. But I can tell you that the Command has risen to meet its statutory responsibility to make sure that we manage crimes to a tolerable level in the Command.
Is the Police adequately funded by Government? What effect does lack of adequate funding have on the Police Force in terms of carrying out its duties effectively and efficiently? What would be the ideal amount to be budgeted for the Police in a megacity like Lagos which is so densely populated, as opposed to one of the smaller states, to ensure better security in the State?
Hardly can you say that an institution is adequately funded. There will always be something that is left out. Of course, the government is the father of many children that have to be catered for. We are looking at security which is paramount, and also education, health, roads, catering for the old and the young people. So, in the midst of that, the government should also prioritise. Adequate funding of a government institution is a tall order. That should be an utopian thing. But government must cater for every institution to the extent to which its lean purse can support.
It is important for us to know that security, which is paramount, is the most expensive part of government expenditure. And that is why the government has also been saying that in addition to government funding, all hands must be on deck, together, in raising our Police to the standard that will make it perform effectively well.
The Nigerian Police Force seems to have a lot of catching up to do in terms of technology especially for crime detection. There is absolutely no comparison with crime detection techniques in Nigeria and that of foreign countries like the UK and USA. What are you doing to step up your game in terms of acquiring this modern technology and equipment, which would certainly make crime detection easier? Does the Police even have a finger print data base for criminals?
That is why it is good to have this kind of interaction. I think that the narrative has since changed. The Police that we have today in Nigeria will compare in terms of application of technology to investigation. You know that intelligence matters and that is why we have been doing a lot of intelligence led policing and getting to the grassroots to interact with people. We have this Police Community Relations Committee.The Inspector-General of Police also introduced the Eminent Persons Forum. It is in order to spread ourselves to the grassroots, to be able to get information from members of the public. Its starts from there. Even where you have the most advanced technology, you still need the people. The best CCTV you can think of is human beings. It is not the camera itself as people say.
We talk of finger prints, except you are not following, that is part of what we are doing with the tinted glass permit, which is being biometrically captured. There is a Central Criminal Registry where we keep data. That is why we have been telling members of the public that, if you want to employ domestic servants, come to us. We’ll take the finger prints, we’d be populating the data.
Beyond that do you think it is a herbalist we consult when kidnappers are arrested? We have done real rescue operations in the Command. We did it here when a medical doctor was kidnapped. Tracing where the doctor was kept, and liberating him. It was not by consulting a herbalist, that we knew where the victim was kept.
Take the ones that have made the headlines, like the Turkish International School, the kidnapping of the Oni Iba of Iba, we secured the release of these persons. Immediately thereafter, the suspects were being arrested, even with the share of whatever bait they must have collected. Its not through consulting an “Opele”. It is technology!
When you talk about technology, as per the hour, there is improvement. Even in those advanced countries, they still commit crimes and it takes time to solve. You talk of detection and investigation, we are just people that are always impatient. Here, we hardly recognise and follow processes. We just want to jump from one to ten. In some other places, they are painstaking, even with the advanced technology, investigation and detection may take years. But here, its cut and nail! You just want that, someone is killed now, in another one week the criminals must be got. In the course of rushing things, we make mistakes.
If you are talking of the challenges and what probably affects our detective abilities and investigations, it’s more of the people. You will hear the shout of “thief thief, ole ole”. You get there and they are about maltreating the suspect. By the time you pick the suspect up, sleep in that area for 24 hours, not a single person will come out to say that ‘this is what I saw the person doing’.
Do you have a DNA facility for criminals?
How many countries have that as well? In the UK they have. Everybody talks about America. But you need to first talk about the basic things. If those basic things are not available you don’t jump from one place to another. Of course, you know the Lagos Sate Government is building a DNA laboratory. To some extent, we used to have a forensic lab at Oshodi. There are cases that have been done there, especially when that air crash took place. Some of our experts use them, but it’s the spread. You can say its not widespread.
Even in those advanced countries, they also still send samples to other places. So, its not as if one country or one state in the US or UK is all sufficient. Its what you have that you use. But I want to tell you that the Police that we have today can match any police anywhere. Its just the way we look at our police. Just like you see a constable or a corporal on the road, and you think he is nobody, No! some of these corporals and sergeants you see on the road, have a second degree. But unfortunately, members of the public always think that the policemen are from the dregs of the society, no, that narrative has changed.
source:http://www.nigerianmonitor.com/fatai-owoseni-boasts-nigeria-police-is-one-of-the-best-in-the-world/
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