Community development associations across Ikorodu Division have been charged to take up supervisory roles in security surveillance and monitoring across their immediate environment, in order to ensure a safer neighbourhood across the entire Ikorodu Division.
This charge was given by Lana A., a Lagos State Youth Ambassador when delivering his keynote speech to community stakeholders across Ikorodu Division at a one-day Stakeholders Interactive Seminar, themed Neighbourhood Safety as a Strategy for Effective Crime Control in Lagos State, organised by the Lagos State Neighbourhood Service Corp at the Ikorodu Town Hall on Thursday, 24th May, 2019.
He berated parents for not providing adequate moral lessons and discipline for their children, thereby leading them in the wrong ways of drug abuse, crime and internet fraud. He admonished parents to go back to the golden rule of parenting- Charity begins at home.
He also challenged all community stakeholders to rise up and accept responsibility for the safety of their immediate environment and the entire state at large, stating that the current spate of ‘mind-your-business’ approach to neighbourliness, rather than a communal approach was responsible for the rising crime rates in Ikorodu and the entire Lagos State at large.
The Iyaloja of Ikorodu Division, Alh Taofeekt Allison applauded the guest speaker for the insightful speech. She also charged parents to take responsibility for the training of their children, rather than leaving the responsibility to the teachers, with whom children spend a paltry eight hours out of the 24 hours in a day.
Representative of Ikorodu Division Youth Movement Samson Bisiriyu, in his brief remark blamed the traditional institutions and the community at large for celebrating and honouring people with criminal tendencies and questionable wealth in the society, while people of noble characters are ignored. He also berated government institutions for not providing enough public libraries and ICT training centres that can engage the youth and assist towards empowering them for legitimate endeavours.
Speaking on behalf of the Chairman, Lagos Neighbourhood Service Corp, DIG Isreal Ajao, a board member, representing Ikeja Division, Chief Tunde Aboyade stressed that his agency has been collaborating with the Police and other security agencies in providing useful security information to them in the discharge of their duties.
Responding to questions on the safety of residents who provides security information, he noted that the Police has been faithful in keeping the identities of past informant confidential, assuring them that the safety of informants are paramount to them.
The well-attended Security Seminar had members of the Nigerian Police, Nigerian Civil Defence Corp, Agbekoya, Onyabo among many others in attendance.
The general consensus at the stakeholder meeting was the need for collaboration among security agencies, traditional institutions and residents, towards securing Ikorodu division as a whole.
