Juliana Francis
The Officer in Charge of the Rapid Response Squad
(RSS) Olatunji Disu, has finally been promoted after ceaselessly battling
criminals in Lagos State.
He was the last batch of senior policemen promoted
to their new ranks. Disu, who was formerly an Assistant Commissioner of Police
(ACP), is now a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP).
His friends and well-wishers, who celebrated the
promotion for him at Ikeja, said that it was long overdue.
Disu has been described by many of his officers as a
workaholic. He is known for keeping sleepless nights and expects his men to
follow suit as they keep surveillance on criminals.
Since he took over the RSS Unit in June 2016, there
had been no stopping him as he unveiled his expertise in policing a cosmopolitan
state and mapped out his ideas on how to police the Lagos.
Disu had rebranded, not just the Unit, but policemen
under his watch. He gives the men lectures on how to be professional policemen
and how they were supposed to conduct themselves and interact with members of
the public. He is also known for preaching adherence to fundamental rights of
civilians, whether they are suspects or not.
In a latest video, which went viral, Disu was seen
warning policemen against indiscriminate use of their arms against members of
the public. He reminded that in Police College, they were taught that, “it was
better for allow hundred criminals to escape, than to open fire and kill a
civilian.”
He further told them that as policemen, they were
supposed to protect members of the public, not shoot or kill them.
He had so impressed security experts and
stakeholders, that the Lagos State government felt it was necessary to further
equip the Unit. The government did that without batting an eye.
The Lagos government also knows that in a state
where population is about 20 million and being the social, commercial and
business heartbeat of the Nigeria, every support needed to fight crime was a
necessity, not a luxury.
Indeed, it is on record that under Disu, the Unit had
its glossy publication title: “The Good Guys.”
Also under his leadership, RRS recorded significant
arrests that solved some of the riddles surrounding burglary, highway robbery,
pick-pocket, rape, One-Chance-gangs, kidnapping, phone thefts, to mention a
few.
The RRS publication, highlighting some of the
achievements of RRS under Disu states: “One of such was the arrest in Ajegunle
of Kazeem Bamidele alias Elewure. This major breakthrough has further led to
the arrest of many other suspected criminals, thereby giving a milestone in the
cleansing of the metropolis and suburbs of kingpins of crime.”
Disu, commenting on the opening chapter of the
publication, states: “Over 18 months ago, we have continually coped with the
challenge of twin evils of robbery and cultism, which are cancer ravaging the
souls of many youths in the society. Though these cases jolted us initially,
they had, however, made us to brainstorm on progressive, workable techniques,
strategies and proactive ideas that helped us to attack the virus. As parents,
we need to be steadfast in monitoring our wards’ morality, ethics and etiquette.”
Disu, who believes that checking crime begins with
parental role and influence on children, added: “We sadly experience and record
almost on daily basis cases that confirm that our moral foundation is crumbling
and our children are at the receiving end because a lax society is a fertile
ground for the growth of crime. Sometimes in July, RRS arrested 22 Agege
teenagers alleged to be involved in the use of an axe to rob passersby of their
phones.
“As if this wasn’t disturbing enough, RRS some hours
before December 31, 2016, arrested between Agidingbi and Omole, 46 teenagers
between ages 13 and 17. They were all members of Awawa Cult Group. From our
investigation, they were coming from Agege to New African Shrine in Agidingbi.
The gang snatched bags and phones of many passersby before getting to their
point of arrest.”
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