Story by Iyiola Ayomide
The cosmopolitan status of Lagos State, christened center of excellence makes it stand distinct from all other states of the federation. It is a city of intelligence, a city where the wise ceaselessly outwit the indolent. Day in day out, people of different tongues and tribes troop into Lagos State in search of greener pastures. Whether they have any place to lay their heads at night or not, they just flock the city. Some have their accommodation under the bridges while others have theirs at the market places; hoping against hope that someday, one day, they’ll secure a better accommodation and live a better life.
Lagos State is the only city where the haves are predominantly circumspect and suspicious of the haves-not in their daily lives; otherwise, your flaunt would be your undoing. This is just the obvious. It is a no man’s land where the slogan “to your tent o Isreal” suffices. This distinctly unique features of the state is responsible for the many colours of crimes and criminality endemic in the state. Crimes like the notorious armed robbery, breaking and entry, stealing, car snatching, local advanced fee fraud, one chance, bank robbery and very recently; kidnapping, were common ills that stare in the state.
The choice of a senior police officer to Superintend over the affairs of the state is most often than not, herculean to the headship of the police force. Not everybody can be deployed to Lagos; you must be operationally vast in criminology and ready to murder sleep too. The choice of Commissioner of Police Jimoh Oluhundare Moshood as CP Lagos State in February 2025 to many was a misnomer, a miscarriage of choice. He never served in any capacity as a junior officer in the state, so how was he going perform the magic of outfoxing these common enemies of the state? He had no referenced record of an operations magnate in anyway particular; save for the being the CP Eastern Ports and of course, the police force mouthpiece at a time. But he came anyway, as CP Lagos State and the choice of his head, IGP Kayode Egbetokun; so there was nothing anybody could do about it except to sit down look.
Incidentally and shockingly too, with barely ten months in the saddle, CP Jimoh Oluhundare Moshood has proved the skeptic wrong. To him, the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong but time and chance, they made them all. He visibly came as a weakling to those ignorant of his antecedents, took stock of the topography of the entire state, crime-map it and he was better for it. Today, the overwhelming peace not relative in anyway, enjoyed in the state, the calmness and unprecedented serenity encapsulated in the socio- economic life of Lagosians, lay credence to intelligence policing and personal sacrifice. And this is the entire definition of CP Jimoh Oluhundare Moshood’s antics in the state. The usual traffic robbery, bank robbery, the menace of area boys, the ‘one million boys’ that were regular features successive CPs faced, car snatching etcetera, etcetera have disappeared into thin air consequent upon his intelligence policing strategy.
The only time Lagos State witnessed near similar atmosphere was in 2008 when retired DIG Marvel Akpoyibo held sway as CP Lagos. But even at then, their were pockets of crimes here and there. There were records of kidnapping in Ikorodu and Epe, there were about two bank robberies both in on the Island and mainland. Akpoyibo was an operations man who aside being DCP OPs in the state command, spent substantial parts of his policing life in Lagos State. But unlike Akpoyibo, Jimoh was simply a ‘tempest in the teapot’ in relation to fighting crimes. No joke when it comes to crime.
His magic wand? “It is God Almighty and personal sacrifice. I don’t sleep. The luxury of laying on my bed is no longer there since I became CP Lagos. So, while you enjoy your sleep in your beds, I am up in my cushion with my radio minitory my DPOs and Tactical Commanders. In most cases, I lead operations. I didn’t come to Lagos to be an arm-chair CP, no. When my deployment to Lagos came, some people asked, are you sure you can fit into the big shoes of being CP Lagos State. But I assured myself, with God, all things are possible. And I pledged to severe social life from my entire life and above all, I don’t collect money from my subordinates. It is either you’re fit for your posting or you’re a misfit and shown the way out. This is my success story.”
