Militiamen as well as ex-militants have invaded Lagos and are blamed for the rise in cases of kidnappings, robberies and other criminal activities in the state, according to intelligence reports from the police.
Sources in the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) told the Punch that there are strong indications that some of the ex-militants are responsible for the recent upsurge of crime rate in the state after they lost their source of livelihood when President.
Muhammadu Buhari cancelled their pipeline protection contracts.
The invasion by the ex-militants in Lagos is posing challenges to the police and other security agencies who are finding it difficult to control the proliferation of firearms in the possession of the renegade militiamen who have now turned to kidnapping and robberies as an alternative to make easy money.
“Since abduction seems to be profitable and less risky, jobless ex-militants and militia group members seem to have found a lucrative business in the kidnapping of hapless citizens, ” a senior DSS official said.
Under the administration of Goodluck Jonathan, six companies were awarded contracts to guard pipelines belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The pipeline security and surveillance contract, said to have been worth N9.3bn, was carried out between March 15 and June 15, 2015.
Some of the companies awarded the pipeline surveillance contract were owned by former Niger Delta militants, self-determination groups and prominent Nigerians including Government Tompolo Ekpumopolo, Mujaheedin Asari-Dokubo, Ateke Toms, Bipobiri Ajube and Ebikabowei Victor Ben (Boyloaf).
Others are the company of the founder of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) Fredrick Fasehun and OPC national co-ordinator, Gani Adams.
However, President Buhari did not renew the pipeline protection contracts awarded to OPC and other militia groups by the Jonathan administration.
Since then, Lagos state has witnessed series of robbery attacks between last year and now. There have also been cases of kidnapping, the latest being the abduction of three schoolgirls from the Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary, Ikorodu, on Monday, February 29.
Meanwhile, t he abductors of the three female students from the Babington Macualay Junior Seminary (BMJS), Ikorodu Lagos have reportedly reduced the ransom from 100 million to 20 million, This Day reports.
This is just as the police in Lagos have deployed several sniffer dogs in search of the culprits and beefed up security in schools in Ikorodu owing to the unsuccessful attack on Owutu Government College by the same gang.
The command has also deployed a newly acquired forensic laboratory vehicle to the scene to help analyse all clues recovered from the school.
Likewise, the House of Representatives has mandated the inspector general of the police, Solomon Arase to intensify efforts towards the rescue of the three girls abducted from Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary School in Ikorodu, Lagos state.
The resolution by the House was sequel to a motion on matters of urgent public importance entitled “Urgent need to seek the release of abducted female students of Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary School in Ikorodu” sponsored by Babjimi Benson on Wednesday, March 2.
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