Inspector-General of Police Muhammed Abubakar reacts to Sunday’s Fatal Robbery Attack in Lagos – “Policemen in the State are Sleeping”

It was a bloody Sunday in Lagos on September 9th, 2012 when a spate of robbery attacks across the state left seven people dead including three policemen and one commercial bus driver.


The robbery attacks took place in different parts of the state - Agege, Anthony, Gbagada, Ojodu, Itire, Ikeja and Ilasamaja areas leaving people dead and injured.

While Lagosians are still reeling from the shock of the attacks, the Inspector-General of Police, Muhammed Abubakar, on Monday reacted to the attacks.

He ordered the policemen attached to Lagos State Police Command to wake up from their “slumber” and ensure security and safety in the state.

The Inspector-General told Punch, “It is no longer a tea party. There is no doubt that policemen in the state are sleeping. You must wake up from your slumber.

“The story of yesterday (the robbery incidents) should not happen again. We must not fold our arms and allow miscreants to take over the state.

“I have ordered the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2, and the state Commissioner of Police to sit down and re-strategise and find a new way of fighting crime in Lagos.

“You have mobility, you have support, you have allowance from the state government; you must not allow people of Lagos to be terrorised by robbers. It can never be accepted anymore.

“I challenge policemen in the state to find those men who dare to attack us. Yesterday success is history. Today challenges live with us. It is our duty to provide solution. There is no margin for error. We have to be right everytime.”

He added that the policemen in the state should not to use the patrol vehicles for domestic use, saying they were meant to protect lives and property also noting that the cancellation of road blocks did not mean that policemen should abandon their jobs.

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Policemen in Lagos have been criticised for mounting road blocks and using it as an avenue for extortion and bribe collection despite the ban on illegal road blocks. Following the robbery attacks in Lagos last Sunday, they were heavily criticised across various platforms for focusing on bribe collection rather than crime prevention in the state.

We condole with the familes and friends of those that lost their lives in Sunday’s attacks. And like the Inspector General noted, we call on the Police to find new ways of fighting crime in Lagos.

What do you think about the Inspector General’s reaction?