Lagos — Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly have expressed disgust over the crime wave in the state and have therefore set in motion the process of nipping the evil.

The house has called on the appropriate house committee to examine ways of tackling the problem by making recommendations.

This was in response to a motion moved by a member of the house, Mr. Kako Are.

Mr. Are had moved that "in view of the rising wave of crime which has remained unabated in recent times in the state, this house do mandate the appropriate house committee to examine the security situation in Lagos state with a view to making necessary recommendations that would enhance the security of lives and property in the state."

The motion which was strongly supported by members of the house drew evocative and emotional reactions as they deliberated on it prior to the moment it was passed.

During the course of the debate, some members of the house supported the activities of the OPC in so far as they were restricted to the purported hunt for armed robbers.

It was the view of members of the house that the failure of the police brought about the emergence of the OPC and other vigilante groups in the country like the Bakassi Boys and Egbesu.

According to Mr. Wole Diya, "I want to support in totality this motion moved by Mr. Kako Are. The security in Bariga is very poor. Every Wednesday and Saturday I go out for vigilante watch. I will like to also say that I am total support of the OPC. They may have their excesses but they are doing well. They are doing a very marvellous job. The police should work with the OPC. The Bakassi Boys is an equivalent of the OPC."

Here, Mr. Diya paused to rail at the police for fighting the OPC.

According to him, "if the zeal with which the police have been fighting OPC in the past three days was used to fight armed robbers, there would have been no armed robbery. In Bariga, (his constituency) robbers would write a letter to you that you should be expecting them and when you tell the police they would do nothing and the robbers would come and do whatever they wish to do. I support this motion."

In his own contribution, Mr. Otonyon Bamgbose had this to say: "I am beginning to wonder, if care is not taken, armed robbers will take over the federal government. I think everyone should own a gun or the government should do something urgently."

The speaker of the House, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora for a moment, reasoned with Mr. Bamgbose as he thoughtfully said, "don't you think everyone should carry a gun? It might check armed robbery."

For Dr. Wale Ahmed, "the long years of military rule has caused a lot of poverty for the masses. What has been done with Abacha's loot? The police barracks are the worst of slums in Nigeria. I think the welfare of police officers have to be taken into consideration too in our fight against crime; the police need good pay for instance."

For Mr. Niyi Fabikun, the 1999 constitution has contributed immensely to the failure of the system and the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) should not be harassed by the police.

In his words, "the 1999 constitution is not worth being called a constitution with apologies to all elected officials in government. What can be the reason why the policemen clash with the OPC. Why has government not given due recognition to OPC when the OPC is trying to fish out robbers. I condemn the police intimidation of the OPC. On the issue of security in this state, no one can actually say he or she is safe. OPC is doing what is good for the people; why then do the police clash with them?"

Mr. Lanre Ope agreed that the security situation in the state was alarming but he said that "the issue of the OPC needs to be examined. I am not against the OPC. At Epetedo for instance, some people who said they were OPC burnt many houses as they claimed to be looking for armed robbers. We have to reconcile the fact that we are in a civilised society so that those who have responsibility to protect lives and property are allowed to do their work. We must accept some of the good activities of the OPC with caution."

Mr. Oluwafemi asked the house to "appeal to the National Assembly to look into the issue of state police which will help out. Governor Bola Tinubu sometime ago travelled out of the country to solicit for foreign investment but unfortunately, those foreigners are aware of the security situation in this country."

For Mr. Thomas Fadeyi, "a lot of people in Lagos state don't have confidence in the police. I support the motion that Mr. Are moved. The OPC is doing a very good job. Armed robbers live in houses and people know them. If they are reported to the police, the police usually do nothing. The OPC deserve to be respected because they are doing the work of the police."

To sum up, the speaker of the house, Dr. Mamora said, "any legal system that does not allow us to have a state police can only be described as an abomination. If Zamfara could come up with Sharia, people should not be surprised one day when we wake up and find that there is a state police."

The motion moved by Mr. Kako Are which generated the debate was subsequently passed unanimously by the house.