Lagos contemplates N99 bn on kitting police officers

The Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), on Wednesday said “to fully kit a policeman costs at least N3 million.

The Executive Secretary of LSSTF, Dr Abdurrazaq Balogun, made this known during the 15th Annual Townhall  on security with the governor.

The theme was “Reconceptualising Safety and Security In Lagos State”, held on Victoria Island.

Balogun said that security agencies require advanced training, more equipment that would support an intelligence-led approach to crime prevention (drones, trackers, scanners at city gates, gunshot detection devices) and more non-lethal weaponry.

”To fully kit one policeman with uniform, taser, tactical gear (light, knife, jacket, belt, gloves, knee, shoulder, ankle, and boots) bulletproof vest, ballistic helmet, tear gas, push-to-talk on cellular communication equipment, rain gear, etc, will cost at least N3 million per officer.

”Hence to kit 33,000 police officers in Lagos will cost about N99 billion. This is our reality, if we truly want a highly motivated, and fully equipped police force in the state.

”Truth be told, the needs of security agencies are endless, as they are expected to be prepared for every single possible crime scenario.

”Often, most people do not see how simple solutions to a problem such as providing sniffer dogs creates a whole new expenditure matrix such as housing, feeding, training health care and even providing special protection details for the dogs from drug barons who would seek to kill them.

”Keeping these dogs alone is a very expensive endeavour but the K-9 unit is not too advanced to be included in our security architecture in the state,” he said.

Balogun said that insecurity is spreading from the north to the south and there is the need to be ready, and to build on the capacity to deal with future challenges.

”As with the yheme of today’s event, we need to “Reconceptualise Safety and Security in Lagos State”.

”Our thinking must be from a point of catering for the well-being of the entire populace. Making people realize they can achieve all they can imagine and providing the support they need to succeed.

”This thinking goes beyond just the provision of hard security architecture but also ensures food security, health security, educational security, social economic security, political security,” he said.

The Chairman, Board of Trustee, LSSTF, Mr Kehinde Durosinmi-Etti, said that the LSSTF has continued to play a pivotal role in the enhancement of the security architecture in Lagos State through successive administrations to date.

Durosinmi-Etti said that this is because of the shared understanding of the relationship between development and security, as no meaningful development could be achieved without security.