Lagos Lawmakers Want Return Of Police Check Points

Some members of the Lagos State House of Assembly (LAHA) recently called for the return of police check-points on major highways nationwide.

The lawmakers said the move was necessary to prevent the heinous activities of armed robbers currently on the prowl on the highways.

Their call came on the heels of reports that a luxury bus conveying secondary school girls from Enugu to Lagos was attacked by armed robbers on the Sagamu-Benin Expressway.

Mr Segun Olulade, a lawmaker from Epe II, told our correspondent  in Lagos that the dismantling of police check-points had led to the return of more criminals.

Olulade, Chairman, Committee on Information, Security and Strategy of the state Assembly, said that the presence of policemen at check-points in the past had created a sort of sanity compared to the current situation after the removal.

“The presence of the policemen at the check-points has created a sort of sanity in our roads compared with what is going on right now.

“The rate of crime has increased and we need to curb such activities of crime in our country today seeing that people are moving round freely now committing crime, the crime rate has started going up and we must stop it.”

The assemblyman said that the IG should have put an alternative measure in place before dismantling the check-points, especially in the face of current security challenges in Nigeria.

He suggested the installation of security equipment and gadgets like the CCTV nationwide for easy identification of perpetrators of crimes.

Reacting to the alleged rape of the school girls on the highway, Olulade called for stiffer penalty for rape.

He said that the fight against rape was a collective responsibility of all.

Also commenting on the alleged rape, another lawmaker, Mr Yusuf Ayinla, (ACN Mushin II), described it as pathetic and called on the police to track down the perpetrators.

Ayinla said that it was inhuman for anyone to rob and rape some children regarded as future leaders.

On calls for the return of police check-points, the lawmaker said he was in support of advocates of the return of the police to the highway.

‘’I am in total support that the security check-points should be back in place until the Federal Government were able to put in a proper security communications gadgets network like in overseas.’’

Ayinla, however, said that the police should be returned to the highways with some modifications that would allow for the comfort of motorists.