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| The yet to be completed police post |
Provision of security, it is often said, is everybody’s business. This maxim probably explains why the residents of Genesis Estate at Aboru, a community on the outskirts of Lagos metropolis, have decided to partner with Oke-Odo Police Station to reduce crime rate in their immediate environment.
The areas are believed to be favoured by criminals. According to investigation, thieves break into houses and shops at will in many parts of the community whereas Oke-Odo, the nearest police station, is far from them.
The partnership between the police and the community is tagged: “Operation Neighbourhood Patrol.”
It was launched on May 9. The Divisional Police Officer in charge of Oke-Odo Police Station, Mr Monday Agbonika, explained that Genesis Estate was chosen among the 23 estates that make up the community, as a pilot scheme, while it is hoped others would soon follow.
Within weeks of taking charge of Oke-Odo Police Station, Agbonika patrolled the areas and discovered that most crimes usually happen during working hours as against midnight and early hours of the day.
The DPO and his men are targeting the working hours to reduce crime and apprehend the thieves. This wouldn’t be the first time Agbonika would be carrying out an initiative that brings police closer to the community.
The DPO has a penchant for leaving his footprints wherever he works. He is a fervent advocate of community policing. Agbonika has often said that the best way to cut into a community and reduce crime was to partner with the community members.
He said: “When I assumed office as the DPO, I went round the community and estates, but I could not find any presence of policemen anywhere in the community. That was why we decided to launch what we are witnessing today. I believe in securing life and property. It is naturally my primary function as a policeman.
We are partnering with residents of Genesis Estate in order to fight crime in the estate and the entire Aboru as a whole. We are partnering with the estate residents to ensure that there would not be security lapses. When most of the residents have gone to their places of work, miscreants use that period to carry out their nefarious activities.”
Agbonika told members of the community that police presence would bring good working relationship with the estate and Aboru community as a whole.
The DPO urged the Community Development Association (CDA) executives to educate their co-residents on why policemen would be coming to their estates. Agbonika said the explanation was to ensure that the residents would not be afraid once policemen started to patrol the estate.
He added: “We have seen cases where people start running once they sight policemen from afar.”
The police chief also urged the executives of Genesis Estate to intensify efforts in the completion of a police post in the area. This police post, according to him, will provide shelter for police officers and men, who after their patrol each day would have a bay where they can rest and regain lost energy before starting off another round of patrol.
The executives of the estate, he added, need to equip the police post with the state-of-the-art equipment and other amenities, which would make the policemen to work and bring out the best in them.
He said: “A modern police post requires a conventional police cell, patrol gadgets, and other necessary things like monitoring camera, which would be placed within the premises of the station. The patrolling of the estate would commence by 10am and end at 6pm every day.”
The DPO added that the policemen would usually commence patrol of the estate when residents have gone to their places of work. The patrol would end once residents start returning from office.
“Security sticker would be provided for all vehicles in the estate. Any vehicle without security sticker would not be allowed into the estate. Residents should please take note to avoid embarrassment of any kind,” he said. On their part, the residents begged the police to help regulate the arbitrarily use of motorcycles in the estate. According to them, motorcyclists used to enter the estate, unmindful of the local security in place.
The CDA Chairman, Genesis Estate, Mr. Biola Showunmi, said the partnership with Oke-Odo Police Station came at the appropriate time.
He said: “We had a very serious security lapses in the estate. sSometimes in 2011 robbers invaded the community and every resident in the estate panicked. “When the robbers invaded the community, I was not also spared. I was shot on my right hand. The then DPO of the station tried his best.
“It was after we overcame the ugly incident that we quickly mobilised ourselves and erected fence and gate on both sides of the estate. The fence also runs across the major entering points of the estate. The erection of the gate and fence cost us over a million naira. “We commend the police for this partnership and we are ready to work with the police because we actually need security here. We believe when we have the patrol team around, insecurity will be minimal, if not eradicated.” The Baale of Aboru land, Chief Rasiki Akinde, thanked the CDA members for the good work they had been doing in the estate.
He said: “We have had DPOs at Oke-Odo Police Station, but your manner of handling security issues is exceptional. “As the head of the community, I will ensure that uncompleted building meant for the police post is completed soon. Security of lives and property is not what one can toy with.”
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