The return of robbers to Lagos State

Juliana Francis

The onslaught against crime and criminals, especially armed robbers in Lagos State, started during the regime of Mohammed Abubakkar, now the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Calabar.

With massive support and donation of police equipment from the state government, robbers began to go underground.

Before Abubakar could wade further into the battle front against robbers, his promotion forced him to leave the stage. There were about two more commissioners, who did not last months, before Marvel Akpoyibo took over as the state’s commissioner.

Akpoyibo seemingly continued the battle from Abubakkar left off, working round the clock like one driven to succeed. And he did succeed even though his lieutenants complained that he was a workaholic and never allowed them to catch a wink of sleep in the nights. He was always on Walkie-Talkie, monitoring area reports and yelling out instructions. His men had even wondered aloud if he ever sleeps.

When Akpoyibo was asked why he derived pleasure from keeping his men on their toes, he said police job, was not one for lazy people. According to him, it was supposed to be a 24 hours job. He reportedly charged those who found the working time table tough to quit the force.

But his determination and tenacity paid off. Armed robberies, especially bank robberies declined. Even the most cynical of Lagos citizens, complimented the efforts of Akpoyibo and his men. The happiest set of sectors in Lagos appeared then to be the banking industry and bankers.

It was around early November 2010, that some dailies were a washed with speculations that Akpoyibo would be transferred out of Lagos. He would be heading to the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS). The speculation however turned out to be the fundamental truth. Akpoyibo would be leaving Lagos command.

Immediately the news filtered out, robbers, wherever they might had hidden or buried themselves must have heaved a sigh of relieve and started crawling out from their holes.

Soon pockets of robberies were reported.  They first struck at Ikorodu, killing a child.

Early this year, they also struck again at Ikorodu. This time they attacked a team of policemen on patrol duty.  The Nigerian Compass gathered that the bandits were supposedly returning from an operation when they saw the policemen patrol van and surrounded it. They shot and killed one of the men and relieved them of two AK47 rifles. The following day, another set of robbers struck at Apapa. They collected another AK47 rifle from a police sergeant a few minutes after he signed and collected the rifle from his Division, Apapa.  Even when he returned to the station, to report the incident, he was still in shock. He told his colleagues that the snatching of his gun was like a scene out of a Hollywood movie.

On January 21, 2011, at about 10am, robbers alleged attack Sweet Sensation, at Allen Avenue, Ikeja.

An eye-witness working in one of the offices in the area: “There were heavy shootings. Even those of us in our offices, always pee in our panties.  They came to Sweet Sensation. They came in a car, parked it at Allen roundabout and walked to Sweet Sensation. No, I don’t know whether they made away with any money, but they were shooting sporadically. They even parked their vehicle in front of a police post! The truth is that there was no policeman at the police post. Nobody was on duty. There were however policemen at United Banks of African (UBA) and Oshoppey plaza. These policemen saw the robbers and opened fire, just shooting into the air. I believe the policemen were shooting into the air to stop the robbers from having any wrong idea about attempting to enter their areas. The robbers later escaped through Toyin Street.”

Before the robbery attack at Allen, robbers on that same day had earlier struck at Intercontinental Bank, Ipaja Ayobo branch. They attacked the bank at about 1:30 am, shelling the banking hall with dynamite and destroying the five automated teller machines (ATMs) positioned outside the bank premises.

While no life was lost, the marauders were said to have operated for hours unchallenged even when Ayobo Divisional Police Headquarters was within a shouting distance to the scene of the robbery. Unconfirmed reports say they fled with huge sums of cash but sources within the bank said they could not break into the strong room of the bank.

The Nigerian Compass learned that they came in through Ayetoro Ijele road, in Ogun State. They shot into air, scaring residents stiff.

The bandits who were apparently prepared and had painstaking planned for the operation, came with grenades, dynamites and other sophisticated weapons.

“They used hand grenade to blow open the bank door and gained access into the banking hall,” said a resident. “They went into the strong room, where the bank had its vault, but I don’t know if they succeeded in opening it. But they broke the ATM. It was one of the people living here that called police. The police came, blaring siren, forcing the robbers to escape.”

In Shomolu area on January 20, about 10 robbers operated in a beer parlour. An hotelier was said to have been killed in that operation.

The deceased was said to be a victim of circumstance. He was just through the area of operation, when the robbers sighted him and scared, shot him. A soldier who was on guard duty was also said to have been killed by the bandits.

It was into this growing heat that the new commissioner of police, Mr. Yakubu Al-kali walked into the command, taking over the mantle of leadership from Akpoyibo.

There is no doubt that Al-kali is already beginning to have his work cut out for him. It is either he attacks and vanquishes these growing robberies incidences or the robbers and their attendant activities would defeat and destroy him.

Akpoyibo left a big sized shoe to be filled, especially in terms of strategizing his men and pushing them to work. Even though the state government made varying donations in terms of equipments, these items can not function themselves without strategies and tactical deployment.

He had openly bragged of his conquests and success on the day he was handing over to Al-kali.

According to him, between 2008 and 2009, general crime rate in the state significantly dropped. “It was estimated at about 75 percent. In 2010, efforts were further made to consolidate and improve on our previous achievements. Bank robberies which hitherto remained one of the greatest challenges of the command were systematically tamed, with the command recording a nil bank robbery for the year. Kidnapping and hostage taking were tactically contained and made an unattractive criminal venture in the state.”

Akpoyibo further noted within his tenure, a total of 1,256 suspected armed robbers were arrested, 2,795 suspected stolen cars recovered, 1,065 assorted arms recovered and 17,754 rounds of live ammunition of different makes recovered.

Stating the secret behind his successes in combating robbers almost to nil percent, Akpoyibo said: “As soon as I took over the leadership of the command, I rolled out a mission statement for the command. The mission statement which eventually became the battle cry and rallying point for all crime fighters within the command is encapsulated in the phrase, ‘zero tolerance for all crimes and vices within the state.’ The mission statement elicited different reactions from different quarters. We came under scathing criticism from casual observers as well as sociologists and criminologists alike for daring to dream of a zero crime state. We were however undaunted and remained irrevocably committed to our goal, preferring to have a definable yardstick for measuring our performances rather than remaining unguided and directionless in our crime fighting approach. ”

He continued: “In spite of the unique nature of Lagos as a mega city and the preponderance of ordinarily criminogenic factors such as high population density, perennial traffic congestion, unemployment, presence of international land and sea borders, banks, among others; our style of policing left no one in doubt that we are committed to stamping out violent crimes from the city. Our policing style was proactive, innovative and intelligence driven, leaving little or no room for crimes and acts of criminalities to thrive unchallenged. The state was made undeniably hot and uncomfortable for criminal elements, thereby triggering a wave of migration. In fact, the period witnessed massive exodus of criminally-minded elements from the state, with a corresponding influx of peace-loving and law-abiding citizens.

“Although the task of policing and maintain public peace in the state has been highly challenging one, it is our humble view that the command has done creditably well in discharging its statutory and constitutional roles.”