The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Task force

  • Task force urges Fed Govt to check arms proliferation

    Task force urges Fed Govt to check arms proliferation

    The National Task Force on Illegal Importation of Small Arms, Ammunition and Light Weapons has urged the Federal Government to curb the proliferation of arms.

    This followed attacks in Ogun State and other parts of the country by suspected militants.

    It said the first step towards tackling insecurity was to enforce an effective mopping up of illegally imported arms, ammunition and light weapons.

    The Southwest Coordinator of the organisation, Col. Anthony Awote (rtd), who spoke yesterday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, at the inauguration of the state command of the task force, noted that the Federal Government’s efforts to rid the country of terrorism, militancy, pipeline vandalism and other crimes would only yield dividends if illegal arms could be stopped from getting into the hands of Nigerians.

    He said the task force, which began operations about nine years ago, was conceived by the Importers Association of Nigeria. According to him, it assisted the government to intercept illegal arms.

    Awote enjoined the Federal Government to give the task force an official backing, in order to enhance its operations and curtail the activities of the people, who import illegal weapons.

    He advised the National Assembly to expedite action on the passage of a bill on the establishment of the National Task Force to Combat Illegal Importation of Arms, Ammunition, Light Weapons and Pipeline Vandalism.

    Awote said: “If given the legal backing, NATFORCE is capable of providing employment for over 4,000 people in Ogun State alone.

    “The task force is not out to usurp the duties and responsibilities of existing security agencies. Rather, ours is to complement their efforts.

     

     

    “The task force started as a private-public initiative and was inaugurated by the former Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga. It is at present being supervised by the Office of the National Security Adviser under the Ministry of Interior for ministerial over function.

    “The task force, since inauguration, has intercepted a trailer load of arms and ammunition at the Onitsha head bridge. It also discovered an island of cache of firearms, while last year, the Ogun State command intercepted a luxury bus loaded with arms and ammunition as well as a lorry load of expired Maggi seasoning.”

     

     

  • Attacks on task force men

    Attacks on task force men

    •Lagos State must go tough on those assaulting its officials

    Unless the Lagos State government takes stern actions against individuals and institutions that assault members of its task force on environment and special offences (enforcement unit), the rationale for the establishment of the task force may be defeated. We are worried that the officers and men of this agency keep falling victims to all manner of persons –  touts, drivers, bus conductors and even uniformed men who should know better.

    The latest such assault on the men of the task force occurred on June 10, when two officers, Goyit Bulus and Sunday Olugbogi, of the Nigerian Customs Service, Federal Operations Unit, Ikeja, Lagos, slapped the magistrate attached to the task force, Lekan Aka-Bashorun, and beat up two other of its officials. The magistrate’s sin was ordering that some vehicles belonging to the Customs men parked where vehicles were forbidden from being parked be impounded. Two policemen and two paramilitary officials attached to the task force were beaten up for giving effect to the magistrate’s order. The Customs men who destroyed court exhibits and recording gadgets claimed that the task force had no right to seize their vehicles.

    The Lagos State government set up the task force for the primary purpose of ensuring sanity on roads in the state. Its mandate includes essentially enforcing the state road traffic law as well as ensuring that the environment is conducive to habitation. It has raided dark spots in the state and arrested many suspected criminals. The government followed up with the establishment of mobile courts to try minor offenders as a way of decongesting the regular courts and ensuring that justice is dispensed without delay.

    Because of the very nature of its mandate, agents of the task force have become easy targets for the hoodlums and other lawless elements who took advantage of the chaotic nature of affairs before the coming of the task force to perpetrate crimes.

    Just last February, a paramilitary officer attached to the task force, Mr. Uzan Rildwan, was stabbed on his head and had two  of his fingers cut off by commercial drivers and market touts under the Oshodi bridge in Lagos. This followed a fracas between men of the task force and commercial bus operators who were picking passengers indiscriminately under the bridge, thus obstructing traffic and causing gridlocks in the area.

    What such attacks do, particularly when the culprits are not made to pay for their actions, is to dampen the morale of the task force personnel, which will not augur well for the state. This latest incident is particularly saddening because of reports that the matter had been settled amicably between the heads of the security agencies. This kind of settlement should belong in the past. The issue is, laws have been broken by some people and they should pay for it.

    What is the business of the heads of the security agencies that were said to have resolved the matter? Were they the ones who sent their men to break the law, beat up a magistrate and law enforcement officers, and confiscate court properties? If not, then, the matter is clearly beyond them at this stage. It has become a public issue and the law must be seen to take its full course. The excuse by the Customs image maker that the Customs officials did not know that the person they slapped was a magistrate does not hold water. What is important is that they knew the task force officials were on official duty in the area.

    It is high time we made our security agents know that they are not above the law and that the arms they bear are carried on behalf of the state to facilitate their job; not to intimidate civilians or other government agents in the course of their official duties. So, whoever buried the incident between the Customs men and the task force officials must exhume it now to allow the law take its course. The aim of task forces like the one in question would be defeated if incidents like this are treated as ‘family affair’ and swept under the carpet.

  • Task Force convicts 159 traffic offenders

    •Agency gets vehicles, motorbikes 

    Lagos State Mobile Courts have convicted 159 persons for road traffic offences.

    The courts also impounded nine vehicles.

    Among the convicts were private motorists, 30 commercial bus drivers, 10 tricyclists and four motorcyclists.

    Of the impounded vehicles, five are private cars, two commercial buses, one tricycle and one motorcycle.

    According to the agency’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) Taofiq Adebayo, the offenders were arrested in Ikeja, Ikorodu, Ikoyi, Fagba, Mainland, Ikorodu Road and Pen-Cinema areas.

    Magistrates Nurudeen Layeni, Patrick Nwaka, Lekan Aka-Bashorun, Lateef Owolabi and Tosin Ojuromi, he said, handled the cases.

    “The impounded vehicles, he said, were convicted for contravening the one-way provision in Section 7 (b) of the Lagos State Traffic Laws of 2012, adding that all the motorists were convicted for contravening Schedule (1) item 45 and Schedule (1) item 32 of the law by causing traffic obstructions, parking and picking passengers illegally,  illegal parking on kerbs/walkways etc.”

    According to him, one of the convicted traffic offenders, who owns a Lexus Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) after paying N10,000 fine, said he was ignorant of the law against parking on kerbs/walkways.

    Adebayo claimed that a convicted commercial driver, whose Volkwagen bus marked AKD 930 BL was impounded, said it was the greatest mistake of his life to have taken one-way.

    The Lagos State government has donated vehicles and motorcycles to the task force to boost its operations.

    The Task Force chairman Saheed Olayinka Egbeyemi, a Superintendent of Police (SP), said the agency would enforce the Lagos State Road Traffic Laws of 2012 and Lagos State Environmental Laws.

    He said the mobile courts’ operations would be strengthened to cover more areas.

  • Thugs machete task force officials

    Thugs machete task force officials

    SOME Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit (Task Force) officials were on Saturday stabbed with cutlasses and broken bottles by miscreants and illegal abattoir operators at Idi-Araba near Lawanson in Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos.

    They also damaged the task force’s two Toyota Hilux vans and a Black Maria and stopped the operatives from sealing off the illegal abattoir.

    In the melee, Wilson Alaba, a Superintendent of Police (SP), was macheted on his left hand and the agency’s driver, Adekunle Victor injured on the head and his left leg.

    Victor is in hospital.

    A suspected hoodlum, Olamilekan Adekunle, who was injured in the right arm was treated in a clinic and discharged.

    Dr Aromire Samuel, who treated him, said no pellet was found in him.

    The task force’s Public Relations Officer, Adebayo Taofiq, asked all illegal abattoirs and slabs in the state to comply with government’s directive.

  • Expired Digestive biscuits in circulation, says task force

    Expired Digestive biscuits in circulation, says task force

    Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit (Task Force) Chairman Olayinka Egbeyemi, a Superintendent of Police (SP), has warned the public to be wary of re-packaged expired Digestive biscuits now in the market.

    Egbeyemi sounded the note of warning yesterday when he paraded two persons arrested for re-packaging and selling expired Digestive biscuits around Mosafejo market in Oshodi, Lagos

    He said one of his officers arrested a woman, Bimbo Oyewole, at Oshodi under bridge while she was wiping off the expired date on a pack of Digestive biscuit.

    The woman took the task force officials to where she bought the biscuit at N1,900 per pack from one Mr Rabiu Olalekan and Mr Hakeem Tiamiyu.

    Olalekan confessed to have been doing the business of re-packaging expired Digestive biscuits and selling them at a cheaper rate with Tiamiyu who lives on 26, Oremeji Street, Ikotun – Egbe, Lagos.

    The suspects claimed that they bought hundreds of packs of digestive biscuits before government demolished Mosafejo market and since they could not sell them before they expired, they took to changing the expiry dates and re-packaging them.

    They said they sell a pack of re-packaged digestive biscuit at N1900 as against N4,500 for the non – expired one.

    The suspects claimed that poverty pushed them to the business, adding that they distributed the re-packaged expired biscuits to agents across the state.

    The task force said it had screened out 11 of 149 arrested miscreants and charged 138 to courts for environmental offences in the last one week

    Its Public Affairs Officer, Adebayo Taofiq, said 19 motorcycles were impounded for contravening traffic laws.

  • Task Force demolishes 28 street gates

    •34 more to go

    Lagos State Government has begun the demolition of gates on streets which refused to comply with its directive to open them till midnight daily.

    The demolition followed the expiration of the ultimatum.

    The government has earmarked 62 gates for demolition; 28 have been demolished in Ajeromi Ifelodun area of the state.

    The government ordered streets to open their gates between 5am and 12 midnight to enable motorists use them in time of traffic gridlock.

    Government officials escorted by the Task Force on Environment and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit stormed Ajeromi Ifelodun yesterday and demolished 28 gates locked against motorists.

    The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Community Affairs, Alhaji Tajudeen Quadri, said the removal of the gates followed awareness campaign by the Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs on the need to obey government directives.

    “These gates constitute obstruction to traffic, especially in areas where such gated streets or barricades are on roads meant to serve as thoroughfares or alternative link routes; they also  prevent fire engines during fire outbreaks; pregnant women in labour, other medical emergency, and police patrol vehicles to gain access to such streets when they receive any distress calls,” he said.

    He advised other residents that had not complied with the directive to do so before the government moves to their areas for demolitions.

     

  • ‘Danfo’ drivers, touts stab task force official at Oshodi

    ‘Danfo’ drivers, touts stab task force official at Oshodi

    COMMERCIAL bus drivers and touts yesterday at Oshodi allegedly stabbed Rilwan Oseni, a War Against Indiscipline (WAI) official with Lagos State Task Force on Environment and Special Offences, on his head and chopped off two of his fingers.

    The incident occurred when the task force impounded six commercial buses and arrested some drivers for allegedly obstructing traffic at Oshodi under bridge.

    The drivers and touts attacked police and paramilitary officers with broken bottles, cutlasses and other dangerous weapons to secure the release of the seized buses.

    Oseni was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital before he was transferred to Ikeja General Hospital.

    Police spokesperson Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent of Police (SP), urged motorists to comply with traffic laws or face the consequences.

     

  • 155 ‘miscreants’ held, 150 motorcycles seized in task force raid

    LAGOS State Environmental and Special Offences Task Force yesterday arrested 155 suspected miscreants and impounded 150 motorcycles.

    Also, two locally made pistols, one English pump action gun and seven rounds of ammunition were recovered.

    The suspects were alleged to have been terrorising the Oyingbo and Ebute-Meta areas of the state.

    Some of the suspects were fingered in robbery and rape cases, others were nabbed for alleged Indian hemp smoking and public disorder.

    The agency debunked claims that some people drowned in the lagoon, insisting that no gunshot was fired by its officials during the raid.

    Their arrests, The Nation gathered, did not come easy as pebbles and petrol bombs were thrown at the officials.

    An official, Samuel Ogunjimi, was said to have been shot during the operation.

    The task force’s Public Affairs Officer, Adebayo Taofeeq said the miscreants who lived under the bridge have turned the Iddo and Idumota riverside areas to a den of armed robbers.

    “Those miscreants arrested not only rob under Iddo bridges but constitute other environmental nuisance such as smoking India hemp and raping of their female victims.”

  • Nigeria to redeem $100 million pledge to multinational task force

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said that Nigeria will fully redeem its pledge of $100 million for the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to enhance its operations against Boko Haram.

    He spoke at a high-level meeting of the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council in Addis Ababa.

    President Buhari said that having already released $21 million to the task force in June last year, Nigeria will remit the balance of $79 million very soon.

    Buhari, in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, also assured the Council that Boko Haram’s capacity to conduct conventional attacks has been “heavily degraded”.

    He said: “As at now, there is no single Nigerian territory under the control of the insurgents other than their hideouts in Sambisa Forest.

    “Displaced persons (IDPs) are now being resettled in their respective homes.

    “This feat totally accords with our promise to Nigerians to rid the country of terrorism and extremism within few months of our assumption of office.

    “Our efforts are already yielding dividends and we will not relent until the terrorist groups are totally decimated and wiped out of our country and sub-region,” he said.

    The President also reaffirmed Nigeria’s readiness to support measures to end the conflicts in Burundi and South Sudan, including the proposed deployment of troops by the AU to Burundi.

    He said: “Let me re-iterate Nigeria’s deep commitment to ensuring durable peace, stability and security on our continent.

    “Without peace, there will be no development. It is therefore vital for all of us to join hands in taking appropriate measures to end the conflicts and bring a stop to the incalculable damage being inflicted on innocent citizens in the affected countries,” the President told participants at the meeting.

  • IG’s Task Force finds illegal fuel depot in Lagos

    IG’s Task Force finds illegal fuel depot in Lagos

    •Landlady: NNPC officials know about it 

    The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Special Task Force on Pipeline Vandalism yesterday uncovered an illegal fuel depot in Lagos.

    The find came barely 24 hours after a pipeline surveillance security firm discovered an illegal oil bunkering site at Robert Victor Village aka Idi Mango at Atlas Cove, Lagos.

    Acting on a tip off, the task force headed by Valentine Olumese, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), stormed a building at Kml 1, LASU road, Isheri, Iyana-Odo Bus Stop around 2am, and discovered a fuel well.

    Also found there were many 50-litre kegs loaded with petrol, which the suspected vandals were said to have abandoned while fleeing.

    Sources claimed that the building, which is close to the pipeline, was constructed to aid petroleum products theft.

    According to a source, the well was constructed with connecting underground pipes to the pipeline, a conduit for the suspected vandals whenever the valves were opened.

    The source said the suspected vandals, who move out the filled tanks through the perimeter fence, also connected hosts to tankers which they load without obstruction.

    He claimed that the vandals make between N9 million and N12 million per night, accusing residents of the neighbourhood of feigning ignorance of the illegal activity.

    The property owner, Mrs Florence Olayinka Ayinde, who sells beverages in the shops outside the compound, said Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) officials usually came there to siphon fuel.

    She was arrested with the Community Development Association (CDA) Chairman, Rotimi Olayisoye, who said he only gave her a lift because he was going her way.

    According to the woman, who claimed she came after receiving a phone call that policemen were there, NNPC senior officials are involved in the business.

    She said the vandals have been operating on her property for about three years, adding that she stopped sleeping there for fear of her life.

    Mrs Ayinde said she complained to the NNPC depot, but nothing was done.

    “NNPC is aware of what is happening here. I reported three years ago when I first noticed the activities of vandals in this premises. I told most of their bosses like Alhaji Abubakar, Jacob and my brother Oyinlola but they told me to leave it.

    “I used to cook food here but because of the fuel, which affected my water, I stopped. When I told the NNPC people, they came to check it and they also said I should not do anything that will attract fire, they also told me that they will change the leaking pipe from the pipeline and dig another well for me but till date nothing was done.

    “Instead, they (NNPC) usually come here to siphon fuel. At times they bring NNPC tankers and jerry cans.

    Alhaji Abubakar and Jacob have been siphoning fuel here for three years now.

    “The vandals also come to do the same thing. They usually come in the night. I do not stay here because I am afraid to die. I do not know anything about it. I am not a vandal. Let us get in touch with the NNPC, they will tell you that I have reported on several occasions.

    “I do not have money but I will rather die than do illegal bunkering,” Mrs Ayinde said.