Police Raise Alarm As IPOB, Oodua Agitators Plot ‘Attack’ On Lagos

No fewer than 24 separatist groups have been identified by the police as posing a threat to law and order in Lagos State.

The state’s Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, revealed this while delivering a paper titled ‘‘Appraisal of Security Situation in Lagos State’ at a security meeting chaired by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu

The meeting held against the backdrop of rising insecurity across the country.

Delivering his paper, Odumosu disclosed that the state had taken cognizance of “agitators for Oodua Republic by some Yoruba separatist groups and the threats to disrupt law and order in the state”.

He said, “Twenty-four of these groups have been identified and being closely monitored.”

Odumosu also revealed that the proscribed South East separatist group, Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB),  was planning to “attack soft targets in Lagos”.

He said the development was currently being investigated by security agencies in the state.

“Strategies are being put in place to neutralise their activities,” Odumasu added.

The commissioner while soliciting for the support of all and sundry, called on Lagosians to be vigilant and report any suspicious person or movement to security agencies.

He said, “Let us adopt the slogan of when you see something, say something”.

The police chief also expressed worry that the use of motorcycles as a means of transportation in the state could frustrate efforts to curb crime in the state.  

Odumasu said, “The government’s good intention of providing additional means of land transportation and creating jobs for the teeming unemployed youths, has been negated by the atrocities being perpetrated by the Okada operators in the State.

“This include, the use of Okada as a veritable tool to commit crime and get away with it by hoodlums; disrespect to traffic rules and regulations; the Okada operators becoming nuisance and reckless on our roads, resulting into avoidable accidents with attendant consequences on human life”.