Police constables mainly for intelligence gathering, won’t bear arms – Lagos PPRO

None of the 1,250 special constabulary officers just deployed to boost security in different parts of Lagos will bear arms, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, has said.

He also said they would be mainly used for intelligence gathering for the regular police to carry out their work effectively.

He said, “For now, there is no provision for that. But everything in life is subject to change; maybe later there will be a law that will back that but for now, there is no provision for them to carry arms.” the PPRO stated

Adejobi spoke in an interview with The PUNCH on Wednesday, adding that the officers deployed on Tuesday by the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, would be attached to divisional headquarters in all of the state’s 20 local government areas.

The constables were deployed as part of the Federal Government’s community policing initiative to combat crime and criminal activities.

The state police command’s spokesman said more constables would be trained to provide more support for the men of the command in the state.

Adejobi said, “They were mopped from all the local government councils in the state. The police assisted in training them and we had a passing out parade yesterday (Tuesday).

“They were trained for almost a month; they were in camp all through the Christmas and New Year season; there were no breaks at all for the one month because they had to finish the programmes. They will be deployed back to their various communities to boost policing in the areas.

“This is the first batch and more batches will be released as long as the state government is willing to assist in mopping them up and release logistics for training.”

He also spoke on the criteria used in the selection process, adding, “There were many criteria used in the selection but academic qualification was not the major thing. In fact, age was not a barrier. All we wanted were those who have mass knowledge of the demographical and geographical nature of their various areas; those who can help us in intelligence policing; those who can help us to have the physique, the stamina to do our job.

“The criteria for selecting them are different from the regular police because they are to complement us.”

“They were selected at various communities with the help of the Obas, the local government chairmen, community leaders, religious leaders, market leaders, youth wings, and all the stakeholders.

“They will be resuming at divisional headquarters in their areas under the various area commanders. They cannot work in isolation. And if at all, we want to go on operations, they can join us but majorly, they will be into intelligence gathering for us and other normal police duties we do, patrols and others.

“We are going to use them judiciously and they are going to be used for the purpose for which they have been recruited to assist the community policing project.”

Also, the Lagos State Government said it would be responsible for the salaries of the constables but said no salary figure had been fixed yet.

The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, told The PUNCH on Wednesday that some of the constables were drawn from the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps, Neighbourhood Corps.

“The state government will be responsible for the salaries of the constables but salary figure is not known yet.

“The constables were shortlisted from the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps, Neighbourhood Corps and a few civilians,” he said, adding that more constables would be recruited later in the future for the security coverage of the state.