The Executive Secretary/CEO of Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF) Dr. Abdurrazaq Balogun has restated the need for Lagosians to support the efforts of the funding agency in safeguarding the security of lives and properties in the cosmopolitan city. He made this important input at the 15th Town Hall Meeting yesterday themed: ‘Reconceptualizing Safety and Security in Lagos State’.In his speech at the event, Dr. Balogun shared: ‘

To say that security is the number one challenge for us in Nigeria is a cliché. All over the country, we see all forms of security breaches such as armed robbery, kidnapping, terrorism, banditry, suicide, cult-related and other murders, gang/cult violence, public disorder, street crime and extortion, highway robberies, piracy, oil theft, human trafficking, drug peddling, and so on.’
‘For the record, the following security agencies and more operate in Lagos state and enjoy the support of the Fund: Lagos State Police Command (14 Area Commands, 110 Police Divisions, Rapid Response Squad (RRS), 7 Mobile force Units, SWAT unit, Explosive Ordinance Dispersal (EOD), State Intelligence Bureau (SIB), Ops Attack, Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU), Traffic Unit, Marine Police, Mounted Police Unit, Lagos State Taskforce on Environmental and other Offences (Taskforce), Airport Police Command, Railway Police Command, Army – OP MESA and Quick Response Group, Navy – OP MESA and Sea Patrols, Air Force – OP MESA, State Security Service, Nigeria Correctional Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Lagos State Neighborhood Safety Agency (LNSA), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (KAI), Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS), Lagos State Fire Service, Lagos State Emergency Response Agency (LASEMA), LASEMA Response Unit (LRU), National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP)’.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Board Chairman, Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), Mr. Kehinde Durosinmi-Etti and the Executive Secretary/CEO, LSSTF, Dr. Abdurrazaq Balogun during the 15^th Annual Town Hall meeting on Security, at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, on Wednesday, December 22, 2021.

About the huge material support that the LSSTF has done for these security agencies, Dr. Balogun noted: ‘Still keeping things in perspective, please note that about 70% of the equipment and logistics used by most of these security agencies, especially for the Police RRS and OP MESA (Army Navy and Air Force) were provided through the Lagos State Security Trust Fund’.

‘This, ladies and gentlemen, is our reality. There is a serious resource problem that appears to be unending. We cannot continue doing the same thing and expect a different result. Our security agencies require advanced training, more equipment that would support an intelligence-led approach to crime prevention (drones, trackers, scanners at city gates, gunshot detection devices) more non-lethal weaponry.’

‘To fully kit one policeman with uniform, taser, tactical gear (light, knife, jacket, belt, gloves, knee, shoulder, ankle, and boots) bulletproof vest, ballistic helmet, tear gas, push-to-talk on cellular communication equipment, rain gear, etc will cost at least 3 million naira per officer. Hence to kit 33,000 police officers in Lagos will cost about 99 billion naira. This is our reality if we truly want a highly motivated and fully equipped Police Force in the state. What we need is finance. It is as simple as that.’

He, therefore, made a passionate appeal to corporate institutions, professional institutions, and high net-worth individuals that will become ‘selfless partners who understand the dream and are willing to lay the foundation for what they may not benefit from but that will ensure that their lineage will always succeed even if the family wealth is lost somewhere along the way’.