132 rape cases reported in 2013 – Lagos CP

Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Mr. Umaru Manko
| credits: File copy

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Umar Manko, has said no fewer than 132 rape cases were reported to the police  in 2013.

Manko, however, did not give a breakdown of the figure and the people involved.

The Commissioner said this  during a press conference at the state police command headquarters in Ikeja on Tuesday while reviewing the performance of the police in the state.

Rape was among the 30 offences highlighted by Manko.

While rape moved from 129 in 2012 to 132 in 2013, murder rose from 106 to 111 for the years under review.

According to the statistics released by the police boss, 15 cases of kidnapping were recorded in 2013, against the 19 reported in 2012.

In other categories, armed robbery dropped from 160 in 2012 to 152 in 2013. It stated that 39 policemen lost their lives in various gun battles with armed robbers.

Manko said the command was working to reduce the incidents of crime in the state through the training of its personnel and the deployment of intelligence gadgets.

He said, “The year 2013 was a year full of challenges for the command. The states’s cosmopolitan nature and its prime position as the economic nerve centre of the nation posed some challenges. Crimes such as kidnapping, cultism and armed robbery, which tried to rear their ugly heads in the state, were given a serious fight.

“Most kidnap cases were resolved as swiftly as they began and victims rescued and reunited with their families, including those perpetrated in other states of the federation.

“However, since the command was poised to rid the state of criminal elements, it had to develop some intelligence-driven combating strategies under the mission statement captioned “zero-tolerance” for crime which embedded strategies at various levels of execution, right from the state headquarters.”

He said over 1,000 Closed-Circuit Television cameras had already been installed in strategic places in the state, while  a committee had been set up to look at more crisis-prone areas where such would be needed.

While fielding questions from journalists on the rate criminals were being released after being taken to court, Manko said the police were working with the state judiciary to ensure that the course of justice was not frustrated.

He said, “If you know the criminal justice system, you will know that everyone has a role to play. Mine is just to prevent. If I send a suspect to court, whatever happens there is no more my responsibility. The police cannot go to the court and determine what is happening there.

“However, myself, the Attorney-General and the Chief Judge are working on strategies to improve the justice system, so that even if somebody will be released, the police will be put on notice and innocent lives will not be at risk.”

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