The local councils in Ikorodu area of Lagos State on Tuesday banned the operation of illegal security outfits.
The six local government chairmen-Wasiu Adeshina (Ikorodu Local Government), Sulaimon Lanre (Ikorodu West LCDA), Adeola Banjo (Ikorodu North), Olusesan Daini (Igbogbo Bayeku), Motunrayo Gbadebo- Alogba (Ijede), and Wasiu Agoro (Imota)-said no unauthorised security outfit would be allowed to compromise the security and peace of the division.
The six chairmen spoke with reporters at a press conference in Ikorodu on the mandatory registration of all private security outfits and Vigilantes in the division.
At the meeting held at the Ikorodu Local Government Secretariat were six divisional police officers, officials of State Security Services (SSS), Civil Defence Corps and NDLEA.
They said: “We shall neither abdicate nor abandon our prerogatives and responsibilities of making sure that the people of Ikorodu Division are not left unprotected from any form of unconstitutional and/or unlawful activities contrived, not only to whittle down the efforts of the government, but also to make the Ikorodu Division people undeservedly susceptible and vulnerable to all manners of vicious elements and/or impostors and/or entities without any credible records on security matters and/or bodies with records and antecedents of working against the success of the government.”
They maintained that in consonance with the constitution and other laws, “all private security outfits (registered or yet to be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission) and/or Vigilantes and/or any other entities, however so described, with interest in security in Ikorodu Division of Lagos State, Nigeria, must be registered and/or officially documented with their local government and the local council development areas where they intend to operate.”
In registering, all private security “must submit the profiles (resumes) of all their directors and personnel as well as their equipment (arms and ammunitions) to the local government and the local council development areas where they intend to operate for onward submission to the Nigeria Police Force and other government-established security outfits.”
They said the local governments “shall only be willing and ready to work with private security outfits,” following their registration.
They directed that private security outfits that have not registered “are prohibited from carrying out any form of activities or launching or inauguration, howsoever called in any part of the Ikorodu Division.”
