Lagos — Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, Fayoade Adegoke, has disclosed that the command has arrested no fewer than 4,000 suspected criminals, who have been prosecuted in court and sent to prison, while the foreigners among them were handed over the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS.
The arrests and prosecution, it was gathered, followed an alarming influx of foreigners with questional characters into Lagos State.
These individuals, mostly from neighbouring countries, reportedly sneaked into Nigeria and found their way to Lagos without proper documentation, making it difficult for authorities to track their activities.
Many of these foreigners, who are homeless, have reportedly been linked to various criminal activities, including armed robbery, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and fraud.
It was gathered that they often operate in syndicates, using sophisticated methods to evade detection by law enforcement agencies. Some of them, it was, gathered have formed alliances with local criminal gangs, further perpetuating the cycle of violence and crime in the state, leaving Lagosians feeling vulnerable and unsafe.
Speaking during a familiarisation visit to the Area 'F' Command, Ikeja, Adegoke described the influx of foreigners and persons from other states with sinister intentions into Lagos as worrisome, noting that while some come seeking a better life, the majority come with sinister intentions.
He said: "Between January and June 2024, we have sent over 4,000 offenders to Kirikiri, after prosecuting them in court. We cannot prevent anyone from coming to Lagos from ECOWAS countries to do business because of the ECOWAS treaty, but we have discovered that most of them come into Nigeria, especially Lagos, to commit crimes. We arrested 50 of such foreigners, especially from Cameroon, recently for various criminal offenses and handed them over to the Nigeria Immigration Service. Another criminal group made up of Nigerians, numbering 4,000, were also picked, charged to court, and sent to prison.
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"We have discovered that most of them come to commit crimes, lacking a clear mission or purpose.
They hide under the ECOWAS treaty and often live under bridges and hide at night, snatching phones and perpetrating other criminal acts." For the Nigerians among them who have the right to live in any part of the country, they make it difficult to address the issue. However, the Lagos State Government is proactive in tackling this concern, and our approach as security agents is to arrest and charge criminals to court."
The Command boss, who applauded the support of the Area 'F' Police Community Relations Committee to the Area Command, urged its members to be law-abiding and accord policemen the necessary assistance in any given situation.
Explaining that the familiarization tour was aimed at reviewing the command's performance and activities in the last six months, with a view to improving its delivery, he warned that the command would not tolerate policemen and Military personnel who ride motorcycles in mufti in Ikeja and its environs. He also urged men and officers of the area command to be civil in their dealings with members of the public.
