The Police Command in Lagos State recently placed its operatives on red alert over alleged plans to attack the state by terrorists. This is coming after the bandits announced that they have established their networks in Lagos state and may strike anytime.
The command stated that it was working closely with other security agencies to ensure that no person or group of persons succeed in destabilizing the peace and serenity enjoyed by the people of Lagos State. A Lagos-based security expert, Olusegun Ariyo, told City People that all the border towns and persons coming in and going out were under surveillance to ensure that there was absolutely no breach of the peace in the state.
He noted that he has been in talks with the police and commended had carefully laid down security plans and strategies and that all residents of Lagos State should go about their lawful duties without panic or fear, but to remain very vigilant and report suspicious movements and persons to security agencies. He, however, spoke on the role of Lagos residents in guarding against being a victim of an attack.
How best can you describe the extent of insecurity in Lagos State?
The importance of population concentration can never be over-emphasized, Lagos being the economic hub of the country, has attracted a surge in migration concentration. Lagos State has the largest port population and therefore has the highest tendency of insecurity.
Lagos, Kano, and Rivers State are where there are higher population concentrations in density and migration wise. According to the report, Lagos State has the highest migration pace among the other states of the federation in statistics.
However, of all the demography of the migrants, the Hausa/Fulani Almajiris constitute 80 per cent of the number. The Fulani/Almajiris come into Lagos state in a pile of trucks and in hundreds. The surge of the Fulani/Almajiri influx has however created frightening security reports which the Lagos government is aware is the plan by the illegal northern infiltrators to attack Lagos and wreak havoc through most of the Okada riders who are pre-dominantly non-indigenes.
For about a year or more, a lot of Okada riders who are from the North and outside Nigeria had relocated to Lagos to take part in the Okada business. And the reports showed that the continued existence of Okada & Keke Marwa in the state was fast becoming a threat to the peace currently being enjoyed in the state.
Is that why the state government moved to ban Okada?
There’s more to the Okada ban. Forget the talk about the threat these Okada riders pose to human lives and the traffic nuisance they constitute. There is more to it. The real reason is that these guys have become security threats going by the findings of the various intelligence agencies.
Everywhere you turn in Lagos, whether it’s on the Mainland or the Island, it’s these Hausa boys that you’ll find riding Okadas and Keke. They come into Lagos daily in their hundreds, loaded in Lorries, trailers & trucks, along with their Okadas from the north. And now, they have taken over every nook and cranny of Lagos. In fact, their number has increased to a point that they are close to matching the number of Yorubas in Lagos, which is something to be really worried about.”
More worrisome is the fact that many of these people are not even northerners like we assume. A lot of them are actually from Chad and the Niger Republic, two deadly areas where Insurgency is rife. If you do not listen carefully enough you’d think they speak the same Hausa language as our northern brothers, but they don’t.
Their language is different. Only their mentality and physical outlook appear the same. That is the real problem. Security reports reaching the state government is that majority of these ‘Northerners’ flooding into Lagos on a daily basis are most likely to be used as future recruits for terrorism by some of the terrorist groups sponsoring them. These are the future Boko Haram fighters who will be promptly recruited, trained and used to unleash havoc on Lagosians when the insurgents are ready to strike in Lagos.
The government doesn’t want to leave anything to chance. This is for our own safety. If these people continue to grow in number, they will overrun us one day and that won’t be funny at all. The government doesn’t want them building terrorist camps and groups in Lagos, it is better to stop them in their tracks right from this moment before things get out of hand.
So where are the most vulnerable areas?
Very good, it is important that Lagosians stay woke and conscious of the places they go to. If you have to leave your home for anywhere else, it has to be for a very important purpose,
If you notice closely the trend of attacks in the north, you will discover that these bandits usually attack government facilities that serve the people; train stations, bus stations, commercial or government-run buses, rail lines and so on.
So Lagosians have to be careful when they board BRT buses. They have to be careful and look around for strange faces at Train stations and bus stations. The Oshodi-Abule Egba road corridor is very long and the service roads are very choked with private and yellow buses. We have to be very vigilant as we move about our businesses. But most importantly, we have to pray against their plot.
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