Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has called on service personnel in Lagos military commands to be fully committed to their constitutional responsibilities of keeping the peace and strengthening security in the state.
He promised that the state government would not waive its mandate to provide logistics support to all security agencies for continuous operations across the state
Governor Sanwo-Olu, who spoke on Monday when he received the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Farouk Yahaya, at the State House in Marina, urged the personnel to justify the confidence with improvement in security.
He explained that it was important to prioritise safety in the state, given its economic importance and geographic location as one of the country’s international borders.
The governor stated that the state government had shared a commendable relationship with the army and other security agencies in Lagos, promising to strengthen the synergy.
“Lagos has uniquely not only the land borders, but it is also an international route in and out of the country through the air and waterways,” he was quoted as saying in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Gboyega Akosile.
“I acknowledge the leadership role being played by the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 81 Division with other security agencies in raising the bar of security surveillance, training, information sharing, and collaboration in operations.
“From this robust engagement, we have developed a mechanism in which every agency works in synergy with others to improve the state’s security architecture. We have continued to experience improved security, calmness, and safety.
“But there is much that needs to be done and this requires the total commitment of our personnel. We will continue to give support to the security agencies to ensure not only their safety and that of the residents, but also the safety of visitors coming to do business in Lagos.”
Governor Sanwo-Olu commended the army for the progress recorded in improving security across the country, especially in the North East where terrorists were being degraded.
He also urged the army chief to build on the collaboration with the state government in the area of intelligence sharing and rapid response to curb kidnapping, vandalism, and other peculiar security challenges.
In his response, General Yahaya said he was excited after learning about the collaboration existing between the army and other security agencies operating in Lagos.
He thanked the governor for the support towards army operations in the state and promised to improve on the collaboration.
“We will do our best to ensure security is enhanced across Lagos and other parts of the country,” the army boss said.
