By Theresa Igata

Lagos State government has said it is working on re-branding and relaunching a new system of neighbourhood safety corps within the state soon.

Speaking at ongoing Securex West Africa security conference in Lagos,  the Executive Secretary/ CEO, Lagos State Security Trust Fund, Dr. Abdurrazaq Balogun, who reiterated the government’s commitment at having a more secure Lagos State,  added that Lagos has had challenges over the years securing some areas of the State,  especially the water ways where a lot of nefarious activities are being carried out.

“Because of these security threats, it has also become imperative that we move to more conventional ways of adopting technology to security and fighting crime”, he said.

Balogun added that since the Nigerian Police is grappling with its responsibilities, “this is why the state government is taking security as its number one priority, because without adequate security the state will not be able to attract the much needed investment and this will hamper development .

“In the last 4 years In Lagos, we have had only 4 incidences of bank robberies and crime has been reduced to 80 per cent in the state. This is not to say that we have or can totally eradicate crime  in Lagos”, he said.

Balogun however admonished participants at the conference to be security conscious even as he called for having security protocols in schools to avert and curb cases of kidnap in schools cross the State.

Earlier in his opening remark,  the Event Director, Afrocet Montgomery, George Pearson said that the event has become Nigeria’s most established and only dedicated security and public safety event to serve the government and private sector in West Africa.  ” The launch of West Africa Cyber Security Summit, WACSS, will fill a much needed space in Nigeria for experts to converge and discuss pertinent issues that reflect the trends, patterns, challenges and opportunities in Nigeria’s cyberspace,” Pearse said.