Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Monday, said that criminals would no longer find a space in Lagos State as a long list of abandoned buildings across local government areas and local council development areas of the state, which may serve as safe havens for them have been compiled for a necessary action.
Sanwo-Olu who spoke during a live interview on Arise TV on Monday disclosed the government’s plan to take control of such buildings so as to ensure that they do not become security threats in communities where they have been found.
“The popular thinking is that such buildings are occupied by criminals who use them to plan attacks. Two days ago, I received a report of abandoned buildings across the state from Neighbourhood Watch. The list is about 250 pages with addresses and pictures of the buildings. These are some of the places where the criminals and miscreants hide to launch their activities.
“We are passing this list to the security for immediate response and actions. This surveillance speaks to the necessity of state police. All the preventable criminalities happening are because we have not agreed as a nation that there should be state police. We have been an advocate of state police and it is one of the submissions I made at the recent public hearing on constitutional amendment in Lagos.