Oduah’s armoured cars ‘ll buy 51 patrol vehicles- Gov. Fashola!

Lagos State governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, has said that the two armoured 

cars bought at the cost of N255 million for the Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Stella 

Oduah, will purchase 51 patrol vehicles for the Nigerian Police.

The governor said this at the 7th annual Town Hall Meeting on Security, themed: 

‘Sustaining Local Responding To Rising National Security Challenges,’ held at the 

Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

“It is sad to know that the Federal Government that allocate three patrol vehicles 

for one state police command of 370, 000 police men, is unable to resolve how 

N255 million was used to purchase 2 saloon vehicles for one officer. It is a very 

grave irony.

“The cost of average vehicle needed to patrol the state is just N5 million. And with 

such fund, we will have put at least 51 patrol vehicles on the road, patrolling the 

streets of Lagos.”

“In spite of all this, they resist the idea of a state police. The money from the 

fund was in the last one year used to provide vehicles for the Nigerian Prison 

Service, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Special Anti-Robbery 

Squad, SARS, National Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC and indeed the 

airport wing of the Nigerian police, is funded from this money. And it is the 

same aviation ministry that manage the airport that we had this very odious car 

scandal of N255 million.”

The governor noted that the upshot of central Government’s failure to confront 

security has continued for the past seven years.

“The residents of Lagos have borne the burden of that neglect, and there is no 

indication that anything will change soon, in spite of endless reform deliberation 

and proposals”.

On the crime rate in the state, Fashola said “Our crime data base now has record 

content of 92, 488 which helps us to keep track of all those who have been 

arrested, prosecuted, jailed or have any contact with the criminal justice system.”

He added that the state is preparing for a future of crime prevention, saying “it 

will be technologically driven, scientifically grounded and result assured.”