Ambode inaugurates Neighbourhood Safety Corps

The Lagos State Gov­ernment yesterday inaugurated what it christened Neighbourhood Safety Corp.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, who personally inaugurated the Corp dis­closed that of the 5, 700 Corps, 100 members of the team would be deployed to each of the local government and Local Council Develop­ment Areas (LCDAs) in the state to complement the ef­forts of other security agen­cies in policing the state.

In his keynote, the Gov­ernor commended the State Assembly for passing the en­abling laws that gave birth to the Safety Corp.

“This marks a giant step towards ensuring security of Lagos State. I thank the state Assembly for passing the enabling law to facilitate the establishment of the Corp, it shows the commitment of the lawmakers to the safety and welfare of all Lagosians.

“The Nigerian Police has been very supportive of this administration in the last two years in the fight against crime in the state, but gov­ernment has discovered that with the population size and the huge challenges in fight­ing crime in the state, the police needs our support to complement their effort es­pecially in community po­licing.

“The Corps is being in­augurated to provide the second layer of policing to ensure that the state and the communities are more se­cured. The Neighbournood Corp is not in any way in competition with the regu­lar police force. They are ex­pected to assist and comple­ment the police by providing useful intelligence on crimi­nal activities in our commu­nities,” Ambode reiterated.

The Governor also as­sured residents of Lagos on the ability of the Corps to execute their mandate effec­tively.

“The corps have been trained on security matters to be able to assist the po­lice. We have conducted or­thodox community policing testing, having being trained in fields such as mediating disputes aimed at peaceful resolution of conflicts and proactive policing engage­ment instead of reactive po­licing,” he noted.

Ambode added that the state has invested heavily in acquiring modern secu­rity equipment and acces­sories to ensure the success of the security outfit. They include 137 saloon cars to be rationed out on the ba­sis of three cars per local government. Also acquired for smooth operation of the Corp were motorcycles for the 337 wards across the state. The riders have been provided with full riders’ protection kits, helmets, knees and ankle protection materials. Also provided were 4000 bicycles aimed at community engagements.

Other accessories include metal detectors to ensure that illegal weapons are not smuggled into public places; batons, whistles, and torch­lights.

He added that commu­nication stations have also been built in all the senato­rial zones of the state even as hotlines are also created and linked to the executive sec­retary of the state and other senior managers of the Corp for easy communication with various communities in case of any crime.

“We also urge whistle blowers to collaborate with the neighbourhood Safety Corp and any useful infor­mation given to the Corps will attract handsome re­wards from the state govern­ment. I therefore call on all Lagosians to join hands with government to say a final no to crime.” - THE AUTHORITY