Task Force chairman wants public support of Lagosians

The Lagos State Task Force on Environmental and Special Offences has sought the support of the public as the media in its efforts to rid the society of environmental malfeasance.

The Chairman of the Task Force, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Akerele Adetayo, made the demand yesterday during an interactive session with reporters in Oshodi. 

He recalled that when he assumed duties, he set up a Complaint Desk, to enable him to get feedback from the public, as well as established three surveillance teams, among others, to gather information from designated areas for action. ‘’The feedback has been helpful,’’ he said.

Similarly, CSP Adetayo said, he held quarterly engagements with communities, results of which have enhanced the agency’s relationships with them.

He noted that it is the responsibility of Nigerians to ensure sanity in the society, adding that is not the work of the agency alone. ‘’It is their civic responsibility. It is our collective to ensure that open defecation is stopped,’’ he said.

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He wondered why after some clean ups in some areas of the state, Lagosians would return in gusto as if nothing had happened.

The chairman lamented the criticisms against the agency, saying that many of them were unfair. He urged the public to work with facts, noting that facts don’t lie. He explained that not all arrests are made by the agency, as they are other sister agencies and that some of their men that the public referred to as fake are indeed paramilitary officials on genuine duties.

He further explained that seized motor cycles are not stolen as many people allege. Rather, the agency hands them over to the Ministry of Transportation for crushing since they are forfeited under the law. But those who want them back have a fine in line with the law to pay before they are sent to the ministry. Offenders

The support from the media, he said, would assist the agency to address issues in its areas of jurisdiction for better results. ‘’You are our eyes. We can’t be everywhere all the time,’’ he added.

On the way forward, the media practitioners suggested the use of genuine jackets by the paramilitary officials, parading of offenders as done by the police, Customs and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and use of body cameras, among others.