By Ebinum Samuel
In 1986, due to the robbery exploits of Lawrence Anini and his gang in defunct Bendel State, the Military Government led by General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida mooted the idea of creating Zonal Police Commands in attempt to nip in the bud all forms of violent crimes in Nigeria.
This noble idea gave birth to no fewer than 10 Zonal Police Commands accross the nation.
The Zone 2 was among the newly created zones with headquarters at Eleweran in Abeokuta, Ogun State. The first Assistant Inspector-General of Police, AIG, to be appointed for the Zone was Alhaji Ibrahim Aliyu Atta. A year after his appointment, and, due to the cosmopolitan nature of Lagos, also, being the capital of Nigeria, the authority decided to relocate the headquarters of the Zone from Abeokuta to the current site in Onikan, Lagos.
Close to 40 years of the Zone existence, no fewer than 35 AIGs were deployed to the zone within this period.
In the annals of policing in this Zone, some of these top Cops performed creditably, why some failed woefully .
To visitors, stake holders in policing, crime reporters and the general public, there is a paradigm shift in policing at the Zone presently. At least, a retired top cop, Dr Olayinka Balogun, last week, at the Zone attested to this.
According to him, “professionalism, proactive policing has become the order of day here in Zone 2. I’m not surprised because if the head is rotten, it affects other parts of the body. “This officer, Fayoade, the AIG in charge, is a cool – headed officer with listening ears, respect for both the young and the old. He and his officers are equally up to the task of protecting lives and property in Lagos and Ogun states” said Balogun who retired from the police force as a Commissioner of Police.
Joining Balogun to shower encomium on zone 2 officers led by AIG Adegoke Mustapha Fayaode, is Architect Peter Jatto.
In his words, Jatto said, ” some of the signs of professionalism in policemen and women includes: strong communication skills, ability to work under sressful conditions,team work, proactiveness, listening to all, not biased, not doing anything for pecuniary reason,calmness in difficult situations,commitment to Justice, fairness to all, willingness in serving the community, problems solving and crime combating. All these virtues, the head of Zone 2 , Fayoade is endowed with. So anywhere he’s posted, he orientate his officers with all these” said Jatto.
In his view, a Security Expert, Daniel Anuforo, “the AIG trajectory is about insightfulness, intellectual engagement, good rapport with everyone and proactiveness. He doesn’t wait for problems to occur before taking steps to solve such problems. “Let me say with all equanimity that the AIG and his officers are men and women who takes delight, passion and perseverance in dealing with difficult people and difficult situations. “This is why everyone wants his or her case to be treated at the Zone. “People are moving cases from Lagos and Ogun states police commands to Zone 2 because of their beliefs that justice will be served. I think this is not unconnected with the AIG willingness to listen to all. You can see the crowd here today” Anuforo stated.
On the crime situation in the Zone , a senior crime reporter who pleaded anoymity, said that violent crimes such as kidnapping, armed robbery and ritual killings are on the barest minimum in this past six months. He attributed this to the professional manners officers of the zone deals with such cases.
He also revealed that the zone under Fayoade has been very collaborative with sisters agencies, students, members of the Police Community Relations Committee, PCRC, Corporate bodies, retired police and military officers, various unions, professionals and market leaders in Lagos and Ogun States.
“Gone are the days when if you have a minor case at the Zone, the Investigating Police Officer, IPO, would want to extort huge sums of money like 500k, 1million , 2million from such person. “Those days are gone for good . Everyone in Lagos and Ogun states heard how police operatives from Zone 2 within 3 months rejected hundreds of millions of naira and hard currencies from ‘yahoo’ boys and other undesirable elements. This is not only professionalism on display, but policing with the fear of God and integrity” the senior crime reporter said.