INTERVIEW: Being strategic has helped us to police over 20m Lagosians with 17k officers, says CP

On January 24, Abiodun Alabi took over from Hakeem Odumosu as the Lagos state commissioner of police.  Being the commercial hub of the country, policing Lagos comes with a lot of challenges; with important national events coming up in a few months, the task looks even more daunting — given the capacity of the command.

In this interview with TheCable’s JAMES OJO, Alabi reflects on his journey as Lagos CP so far, the challenges facing his command and his officers’ preparedness to secure the state during the yuletide and 2023 election.

TheCable: You took over from Hakeem Odumosu in January. What has been the experience for you since then?

Alabi: Well, it has been very exciting and at the same time challenging. You know, being the commercial nerve and industrial hub of Nigeria, there is always that tendency that there would be some security challenges. Notwithstanding, it has been a wonderful year for us. We have been able to overcome a lot of challenges that we experienced.

TheCable: Let’s add a little context to that. Lagos has an estimated population of over 20 million people. Can you tell us the number of police personnel in the state?

Alabi: We have about 17,000 personnel policing over 20 million population in Lagos state. You realise that the strength is not adequate to meet up with the recommended standard. I mean the United Nations standard that recommends a ratio of one police officer to 400 people.

Notwithstanding, you just have to make do with what you have and plan strategically to be able to do your job. That is what I have been doing. Immediately I came on board, I took the fact that we don’t have the required staff strength into consideration for us to be effective. However, that should not be an excuse for me not to perform.

So, I have to use what I have in terms of logistics, human and material resources to do my job. I have been able to do that with the support of other security agencies. This is because no security agency can do it alone when it comes to protecting the lives and properties of people anywhere.

There must be synergy and collaborations with other security agencies where you harness each other’s capabilities.

TheCable: The yuletide is here and we know security is very significant at a period like this. How prepared is your command to ensure the safety of Lagosians, given some of the challenges you highlighted?

Alabi: We are ever prepared. Right from the first day I took over in January, precisely on the 24th, we have never relented on our oars and we have always been on our toes because the security of Lagos is our priority. So, whether it is yuletide or another season, we are ever prepared to do our job. The only difference is that due to the celebration taking place this period, we have to be more strategic in our deployment and put in place operational tactics to deal with any situation. So, we are prepared. Human and material resources have been deployed strategically to take care of the security in the state, and I can assure you that Lagosians will have a very peaceful celebration.

TheCable: You mentioned that some of the challenges facing your command are no excuses not to deliver on your mandates. What strategy are you adopting to promote this kind of mentality among your personnel to ensure they don’t compromise the standard based on the challenges?

Alabi: You have to lead by example. All my officers look up to me as their leader. And it’s the ethical standard that you put in place that your officers would follow. So, if you’re a good leader, you will have good followers and vice-versa. Leading by example goes a long way in shaping the mind and the way your followers do things. By my own standard, I have been able to provide good leadership so far and I think all my men have keyed into my policy vision.

TheCable: It is good you’re ensuring that your men don’t compromise the standard. However, we did an investigation recently and discovered some of your men are violating the ban on Okada in Lagos. They use Okada for commercial purposes. What is your reaction to that?

Alabi: I am not aware of any police officer who has gone against the traffic laws of Lagos state as far as the ban on commercial motorcycles is concerned. But if there’s anyone doing that and it’s brought to my knowledge, definitely such officers will not go scot-free because the law is no respecter of anyone.

Everybody has to obey the law. There is no exception to that. The only exception we gave them is that if they are going to work and want to use motorcycles, they must be in their uniforms and they must not carry passengers. So, if anyone goes contrary to that and is caught, such a person will face the music.

Let us have their identities because we have dealt with some of our colleagues in other agencies who were using their motorcycles for commercial purposes and were captured on video.

When we saw that, we sent the videos to their commanders and they were dealt with. So, if you have any of our men doing that, forward their videos to us.

Don’t hesitate to do that please, because it will go a long way to deter others. If we don’t punish them, they will encourage others to do the same.

TheCable: We also did another investigation into how some police officers demand mobilisation fees before probing reported cases in Lagos. What do you have to say about this?

Alabi: It’s wrong. Absolutely wrong. You see, I keep on saying it anytime I have the opportunity like this. Let me be frank here, the culture of impunity is being encouraged by members of the public. Although a lot of people have challenged me about that view, I believe it takes two to tango. Nobody can force you to part with your money illegally. You do that of your own volition.

If you visit the police station to lay a complaint and someone is asking you to pay money, and you’re giving them the money, why are you doing that? Why don’t you take up the matter and ask if that’s the convention, or report the person to his or her superior in rank?

If any officer is asking for mobilisation fee before looking into your complaint, it’s absolutely wrong. The police are structured in a way that you always have the opportunity to lay out your complaints without being exploited. And let me emphasise again that bail is free. If you pay money for bail, you’re on your own.

TheCable: For the police to be effective, there has to be synergy between the force and the people. You talked about some people encouraging impunity. Since you assumed office, how has it been in terms of support received from the people in your efforts to tackle crime in Lagos?

Alabi: What I did when I came on board is to allow people to have access to me. Beyond that, I am an advocate of community policing. So, we have been able to utilise intelligence gathered from community levels by galvanising critical stakeholders and state actors to get involved in policing the state.

We cannot do that alone. Policing is everybody’s business. We have had a lot of town hall meetings in various communities and that has yielded a lot of positive results for us. Therefore, we are carrying everyone along so they can avail us of the intelligence to work with and make our job seamless.

In that regard, we have been able to build trust and confidence in the people by carrying them along.

TheCable: Next year is the country’s general election. How is your command preparing to ensure a conducive atmosphere during that period?

Alabi: We are well prepared for the 2023 election. You will agree with me that recently, we have had a series of campaigns by the different political parties in Lagos and there has been no issue so far.

So, we are providing adequate security and we will continue to do that. We will ensure the environment is always conducive for political parties to do their campaigns. We are also ensuring that the campaigns are issue-based so that people can make up their minds on who to vote for.

I can assure you that we are going to have a peaceful, transparent, credible and fair election next year.