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Tag: Edgal

  • Gay leader, teenager held for alleged sodomy

    ….As police lunch manhunt for cleric, business moguls

    The police in Lagos have arrested a 16-year-old boy and an alleged kingpin Prince Chinecherem, 32, for engaging in homosexuality.

    Chinecherem, the police claimed, was a ringleader of a gay gang who engaged in their illegal acts in Lekki.

    According to Lagos state Police Commissioner Imohimi Edgal, Chinecherem was using the teenager as commercial sex worker, explaining that aside sleeping with him, he also gave him to other men requiring his service.

    Their case, Edgal said was worst because both men were tested and found to be Human Immune Virus (HIV) positive which means their customers might have contracted same through them.

    Already, the police have declared two prominent pastors and some business executives wanted for allegedly having canal knowledge of the minor and belonging to the illegal group.

    It was gathered that Chinecherem during interrogation, gave the identities of other members of the group including the prominent persons being hunted.

    Narrating how they were apprehended, Edgal told reporters that on January 22, at Ejigbo, a teenager was seen sneaking out of Chinecherem’s house in a suspicious manner.

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    He said curious neighbours accosted him and asked what he had gone to the house to do but he could not answer satisfactorily.

    He was thereafter asked to open a plastic bag he was carrying and the neighbours saw used condoms with semen inside.

    “At this point, the boy revealed that Prince Chinecherem was his lover. The matter was immediately reported to the Police at Ejigbo and the said Prince Chinecherem was arrested for interrogation. After preliminary investigation, the matter was called for further enquiry by the Gender Section of the Command.

    “Both the suspects and the survivor were taken for medical examination and the result revealed that the survivor has long been introduced to homosexual act. The worst is that both of them are infected with HIV virus which causes AIDS,” he said.

    Edgal further disclosed that the suspects would be charged to Sexual and Special Offences Court in Ikeja and that the boy had been sent to health counselors for health talk on how to manage the situation.

  • Edgal orders DPOs to arrest gun suspects

    Lagos State Police Commissioner Edgal Imohimi has ordered the divisional police officers (DPOs) to arrest anybody found with gun during the campaign and election.

    He spoke after parading over 30 suspects nabbed in Lagos for possessing firearms.

    Edgal, who addressed stakeholders, including the Lagos Commandant of the Civil Defence Corps, director of prisons, officers in charge of anti-robbery squad of the Lagos State Police Command, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Peter Gana, among others, on the coming elections, said: “I urge Lagosians to be vigilant.

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    I have been informed that some people are planning to impersonate the military and the police to cause trouble.

    “Let me warn that whoever that is planning this should not try it because we have tightened security in partnership with stakeholders, including monarchs and the Navy to secure the water space.”

  • Drama as Edgal, Egbetokun resume as Lagos CP

    It was drama yesterday at the Ikeja Government Reservation Area (GRA) Headquarters of the Lagos Police Command where two officers showed up as Police Commissioners in the state.

    Commissioner of Police Imohimi Edgal, who was billed to hand over following his earlier redeployment, resumed at works and said he remained in charge.

    Kayode Egbetokun, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), who was to take over the baton after a joint news conference, arrived at the Command ahead of Edgal.

    The handing over could not hold due to an “order from the police headquarters in Abuja”.

    Reporters were told that the event scheduled for 1:30 pm had been shifted to 3pm.

    But few minutes after 3pm, there were jubilations in the Conference Hall where the Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) and the Area Commanders, waiting for the briefing by the Acting CP converged.

    Not quite long, Edgal, who briefed the reporters in the company of Egbetokun, said: “Gentlemen of the press, are you here for the handing over and taking over? Are you here because you like me or you are eager for me to leave? Well, there is a directive that the status quo should remain till further notice.”

    “I am sure that Kayode Egbetokun is an old-timer in the command. Our first job as police is order and directive; we were about concluding the handing over and taking over procedure when we were instructed by our bosses from Abuja to suspend action for now. So, there is no change of guard for now,” he said.

    He did not entertain any question.

    Egbetokun, who came with his personal effect and his personal staff, left the command, saying: “We are government agents and we are always taking directives.”

    As Edgal was leaving for Abuja to meet with the Acting Inspector-General of Police, (IG), Mohammed Adamu, there was gunshot salute.

    The policemen attached to Edgal’s convoy shot four times into the air to celebrate the “good news.”

    On arrival, Egbetokun’s car had been parked at CP’s parking lot while Edgal’s car was parked at another place.

    It was gathered that as the duo was having a closed-door meeting, a phone call, believed to be from the IG’s Office came in and directed that the change of guard be put on hold till further notice.

    After the announcement, Egbetokun’s vehicle was replaced at the parking lot with Edgal’s.

  • Edgal urges streets to get CSOs

    Lagos State Police Commissioner Imohimi Edgal has advised Community Development Associations (CDAs) to appoint Chief Security Officers (CSOs) following incessant complaints about petty thieves and car vandals in some neighbouhoods.

    In a statement yesterday by his spokesman, Chike Oti, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), Edgal directed Area Commanders and Divisional Officers (DPOs) to work with the CSOs and vigilance groups to contain the crime.

    Oti said: “All streets/communities should as a matter of urgency appoint a CSO from their midst. This exercise is to be coordinated by the CDA of such area. It will be the responsibility of the CSO to get the phone numbers of DPOs, operation officers and patrol, guard officers closest to them and distribute same to members of their community.

    “It will be the responsibility of the CSO to arrange for street guards, who will keep watch at night and raise the alarm when necessary to frustrate night marauders. It will be the responsibility of the CSO to reinvigorate and coordinate the already existing joint vigilante/police patrol at night between midnight and 4am, in conjunction with the DPO of that locality.

    “In areas where vigilance groups have not been formed, in accordance with laid down legal/operational modalities,  it will be the responsibility of the CSO to liaise with his DPO to ensure that these vigilance groups are set up.

    “The CP has observed that the two toll free lines, 767/112, are jammed due to call traffic. To reduce the strain on these lines, the CP has released the following 10 numbers domiciled at the Citizen Complaint Hot Centre (CCHC) for use by communities to alert law enforcement officers: 08067945296, 08063025274, 08063104759, 08113615350, 08113683077, 08096283148, 08096283173, 08089781657, 08126404930, 08081426895.”

  • Public car sex a crime, says Edgal

    It is indecent to have sex in a car in public, Lagos State Police Commissioner Imohimi Edgal warned yesterday.

    He was refuting a statement by the officer-in-charge, Police Complaint Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU), Abayomi Shogunle, on social media that the act is legal.

    Answering a question by a Twitter user on whether sex in a car is a crime, Shogunle wrote: “Sex in a car in a public place is not a crime in Nigeria, provided the location is not a place of worship, parties are 18 years and above, the act is consensual and parties are of opposite sex. If threatened with arrest over the above, please contact @POLICENG_PCRRU.”

    Puncturing the claim, Edgal said sections 134 (a) and 136 of the Criminal Law of Lagos, 2015 prohibited indecent act in any public place.

    In a statement by his spokesman, Chike Oti, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), the commissioner said anyone found guilty was liable to two or three years in prison.

    The statement reads: “The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, has been advised by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Ministry of Justice and the Legal department of the command with relevant sections of the law as follows:

    “Section 134(a) of Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 prohibits any indecent act in any public place without lawful excuse. The law holds that such person is liable on conviction to two years’ imprisonment.

    “Section 136 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 provides that any person who commits any act of gross indecency with another person in the public commits an offence and is liable on conviction to three years’ imprisonment.

    “It must be noted that Section 134, which deals with offences against morality, particularly Section 134(a), has it that indecent act in a public place makes both parties engaging in the act liable to imprisonment for two years.

    “In the same vein, Section 231 of the Criminal Code Act, which is a federal law and applicable in states other than the northern states where Penal Code is applicable, also makes indecent acts punishable.

    “The Lagos State Police Command hereby declares that the assertion that sex in a car in a public place is not a crime in Nigeria is misplaced, as the provisions of the Criminal Law of Lagos State prohibit such acts in public, even if it is done with the consent of the other party.

    “Police Commissioner Edgal wants Lagosians to be guided by relevant sections of the law against such acts.”

  • Edgal alleges politicians are importing thugs for 2019 elections

    Lagos Police Commissioner Imohimi Edgal yesterday raised the alarm on the importation of thugs by unscrupulous politicians ahead of next year’s elections.

    He spoke at a lunch by the University of Jos (UNIJOS) Alumni, at Airport Hotel, Ikeja.

    According to him, intelligence report showed that most of the thugs were from Niger Republic.

    He urged the public to inform the police whenever they noticed strange faces in their neighbourhoods. According to him, crime has reduced in Lagos following the introduction of community policing.

    The police chief said: “Intelligence report available to us indicates that some unscrupulous politicians are importing strange people into the state, to use them as hoodlums.

    “We cannot wish away these reports, so we must call on the public to help us verify. This is why we are urging them to be vigilant and report strange faces in their midst.

    “At the last inter-agency security meeting I organised, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) said they seized over 1,000 Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) from aliens. So, it is not like we do not have them. These foreigners are in our midst and we must join hands to locate them and flush them out.”

    Edgal said the intelligence showed that Alimosho, Apapa, Alaba Rago, Idi-Araba, Badagry, Epe and Ikorodu axis could be harboring the thugs.

    “This is like a wake-up call to people on the need for more vigilance during this election period. If they notice influx of persons, they must alert security agencies immediately so that action can be taken,” he said.

    The command, Edgal said, averted a clash between herders and farmers in Badagry few months ago because the residents volunteered information.

    He said a senior security officer’s wife brought in herdsmen from the north to graze her cattle, and the herders allowed the animals to stray into farmlands and destroy crops.

    “This led to a quarrel. The herders injured an indigene and the locals in turn held one of the herders hostage. Fortunately, we had community partnership with the people and information was urgently passed across.

    “I deployed policemen on the scene and thereafter, requested that all parties be brought before me for a meeting. I met them and we addressed the issue. So, it is as a result of community policing that we have not been faced with the challenge of killings caused by herders/farmers clashes.”

  • Edgal to cultists: leave Lagos

    Lagos State Commissioner of Police Imohimi Edgal yesterday warned criminals, especially cultists, to keep off the state.

    The police chief said the peace reigning across the state was sacrosanct.

    Edgal said the command was not oblivious of the fact that campaigns and political rallies ahead of the 2019 polls had begun and that unscrupulous politicians might want to recruit cultists to foment trouble.

    The command has arrested 1,000 suspected cultists this year with over 2,000 others renouncing their membership of various secret socities.

    Explaining the clampdown on cultists, Edgal said: “Cultism is against our laws. It does not represent anything good. Most cultists engage in crimes, such as armed robbery, prostitution and thuggery.

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    “Cults are potential recruiting grounds for unscrupulous politicians who might want to use them during electioneering campaigns and the elections.

    “We cannot allow anything to disrupt the peace, security of Lagos. We cannot let the state become a breeding ground for cultists. That is why we have continued to appeal to parents and guardians to admonish their wards.”

    The police chief assured politicians that tight security would be provided at all rallies, urging them to notify the police ahead of time for proper deployment.

    He said: “All that is required of politicians is to inform the police ahead of time about any rally to enable the command provide security to forestall any breach of peace.

    “Thuggery and violence of any kind will not be tolerated. Politicians and their supporters must play by the rules.”

     

  • Edgal releases 40 held in FSARS facility

    Lagos State Police Commissioner, Imohimi Edgal has ordered the release of 40 persons detained by the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) in Ikeja.

    He gave the order during a surprise visit to the FSARS office inside the Command Headquarters in Ikeja.

    The commissioner directed that 30 persons detained for alleged cultism related offences be charged to court forth with.

    Edgal, it was gathered also visited five police divisions unannounced; interviewed some suspects and inspected the stations.

    He told his men to respect the rights of suspects and treat them with dignity, adding that he would continue unannounced night patrols of police formations under his command.

    It was gathered that the patrols may not be unconnected with the resurgence of militancy and cultism related activities in some parts of the state.

    Explaining his action Edgal said: “Patrols are a routine exercise in the force and we act according to directives from the Inspector-General of Police (IG), Ibrahim Idris. The IG said we should intensify efforts towards community and safety partnership and that is exactly what we are doing.”

  • Edgal: landlords of drug peddlers to face prosecution

    Lagos State Police Commissioner Imohimi Edgal yesterday warned landlords and vehicle owners to shun renting their property to drug peddlers or face arrest.

    Edgal spoke during an interactive session with security stakeholders in Area “E” Command, Festac Town.

    According to him, property owners who accommodate drug peddlers will be prosecuted as collaborators.

    The police chief said he was bent on flushing drug peddlers out of Lagos State.

    Edgal said his drive to eradicate the use of illicit drugs was premised on the fact that easy access to narcotics and weapons was responsible for the insecurity in the land.

    The police chief warned hotels selling alcoholic beverages to underage persons as well as those housing teenage prostitutes to desist or face closure of their premises and revocation of licences.

    He said: “The major problem we are having in crime today is cultism and drug proliferation, especially among youths, which has become a scourge.

    “It has become so bad that in every 10 young persons, four are involved in cultism and drug abuse.

    “The fight against drug abuse should be a collective one. Join the police and other law enforcement agencies to eradicate drug peddlers from our communities. A situation where these peddlers now go to primary and secondary schools to sell these illicit substances to our children should not be condoned. We cannot continue this way.

    “We must fight all these social vices that make our communities unsafe. Henceforth, we will arrest owners of buildings where drugs are sold. Owners of vehicles containing drugs would be prosecuted.

    “The country is currently battling several security challenges because of easy access to drugs and weapons.”

     

     

     

     

  • Stop stigmatising drug users, says Edgal

    Lagos State Police Commissioner Imohimi Edgal and rights activist, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin yesterday appealed to Nigerians to stop stigmatising former drug users and victims of human trafficking.

    They spoke at a seminar organised by crime reporters in Lagos to commemorate the United Nations (UN) Day against Drugs and Human Trafficking.

    According to Edgal, four out of 10 young persons in Lagos were currently indulging in hard drugs. The, he said, rate would skyrocket if nothing was done to stop it.

    He said ex-drug users and human trafficking victims should be shown love so that they would not relapse.

    The police chief blamed the problem on parental and societal failures.

    Edgal said security agencies should do more of advocacy and not enforcement.

    He said: “The issue of drug abuse has been a major problem. In fact, I feel we need to declare a state of emergency on drug abuse. However, we need to ask ourselves how we got here. Drugs had been there since we were young but the difference is that we had parents that cared. We had family structures, which are now broken down.

    “Societal values are gone. Family is supposed to be a platform upon which every other thing grows. If that family influence is missing, one end up being vulnerable to crime.

    “The situation now is that some parents are afraid of their children. Even schools no longer care about the conduct of pupils. Religious leaders should also dedicate time to tell the people evils of drug abuse. It is only a sane society that listens to spiritual message.

    “We will continue to do our own part. I want a safe environment where our children can grow up to contribute their quota to the development of the society.”

    Okei-Odumakin said stigmatising drug users or addicts would make them shy away from help.

    She said: “When you label or stigmatise a person, you make the society develop fear, mistrust, violence. It makes the victim fear to come out to seek help and they start having low self-esteem.

    “Let us develop our lives, community and identity without drugs. Victims of drug abuse and trafficking require love, equal opportunity, positive affirmations, employment opportunity, support and assistance towards their recovery.

    “To be part of the solution, we need research, rehabilitation, reunification and reintegration.”