Insecurity: Light up Lagos, residents tell Sanwo-Olu

Residents have called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to light up the streets of Lagos State so as to reduce to the barest minimum activities of criminals.

The call follows the spate of crimes in some parts of the megacity, particularly at the early hours of the day and at night.

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According to residents, criminal acts are mostly perpetrated in the dark; therefore, the lighting up of streets in Lagos will to a large extent forestall criminal activities.

There have been reported cases of robbery attacks along roads in the state and even in traffic in areas including Agege, Ketu, Ikorodu, Surulere and the capital-Ikeja among others. Innocent residents are being dispossessed of their valuables, injured and even killed in some cases.

Two weeks ago, a mother of three, Oluwakemi Odugbesan was stabbed to death by some hoodlums who robbed her of her phone and handbag at Oduntan area of Ketu. She was said to have been attacked while returning home from a vigil around 6 am.

A resident, Mr. Aderemi Michael, who was robbed in the traffic a few weeks ago along Capitol road, said that criminals take advantage of the cover of the dark due to lack of street lights to perpetrate their evil acts without fear of being caught.

An entrepreneur operating around Surulere, Mrs. Bunmi Ore narrated how one of her staff narrowly escaped a robbery attack on Monday around Karounwi in Surulere.

“The place is always dark at night, no street light, giving way to increased crime rates. The same staff was robbed in December last year at the same spot. The street lights will help a great deal. Some of these areas have been long neglected by the police and they are known dens for crime, robbery and rape. Monday robbery attack was tagged ‘offering time’. The community is aware of the danger anytime it goes dark,” she lamented.

She, therefore, appealed to the government to provide street lights from Kilo to Karounwi, liaise with the police or local OPC security to man dangerous spots to reduce activities of criminals.

Another resident, Mr. Ahmed Hussain urged the government to invest in alternative energy sources like solar and wind to power street lights in the state. This he also said will help reduce the rate of accidents at night.

A Public Affairs Analyst, Mr. Mohammed Abdullahi on his part affirmed that lighting up the streets of Lagos will reduce the menace of crime in the state but noted that mere lighting up the streets is just a cosmetic approach to the real problem, which according to him is steeped in a high rate of unemployment among the youths, under-policed Lagos society, increasing issues of poverty and several unfavourable government policies that is further plunging the people into uncertainties.

He, therefore, stressed that there must be concerted efforts by the government and the corporate organisations through corporate social responsibility actions to create an enabling environment for small businesses and entrepreneurs to thrive.

It would be recalled that Lagos State Government in January 2021 began a move to replace all streetlights in the state with smart LED lighting as it approved the ‘Streetlight Retrofit Project’.

The Streetlight Retrofit Project was unanimously approved by the Lagos State Executive Council in furtherance of the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda of the administration.