Ishawo Killings: Lagos Police Intensify Efforts to Arrest Perpetrators

Three days after bandits suspected to be dislodged pipeline vandals and militants stormed the Ishawo area of Ikorodu, Lagos State, killing five policemen, two soldiers and scores of civilians, the state police command yesterday said its men are on their trail.

The police, who vowed to fish out and deal with the killers, said there would be no hiding place for them.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, stated this while addressing journalists at the state command headquarters in Ikeja.

He said: “There is no way you can kill security agents on national duty and go scot free. Wherever they are, we are going to hunt them down.

“At the moment, we are working assiduously and we are assuring Nigerians that whoever and wherever those criminal elements are, we will hunt for them and make them face the wrath of the law.

“Whatever it’s going to take us, we will get them, and that will be the last barbaric act they are going to commit.

“We are working with sister agencies, particularly the military, and with their cooperation and synergy, the militants will not escape.”

The state police boss said plain cloth operatives had been dispatched to the area, adding: “Considering the circumstances of the incidence, you don’t have to see policemen in uniform. It is part of our operational strategy.

“However, there is a police division at Ishawo, which buttresses police visibility in the area. The Nigerian soldiers are also physically present there. For people to say that there is no police there is false.

“We have policemen but not in uniform. What more sacrifice will the police give than the lives that have been laid for the safety of the people?”

He also said the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Owutu suffered minor injury, but has since resumed duty.