Lagos demolishes Ishawo creeks, 13 arrested over deaths of Policemen and Army Captain

Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni who briefed journalists in Ishawo on the ongoing op­erations in the creeks by a combined team of the State Marine Police, the Spe­cial Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), mobile police­men and the men from the anti-kidnapping squad in coordination with the local vigilante group, said 13 sus­pected kidnappers have al­ready been arrested and are currently aiding the team to track down the remain­ing suspects still on the run.

 It would be recalled that two weeks ago, four police officers and an Army Cap­tain lost their lives after an ambush unleashed on them by suspected mili­tants in Ishawo area. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, while condoling with the families and loved ones of the departed of­ficers, had assured that ev­ery perpetrator directly or remotely linked to the das­tardly act would be brought to justice in the shortest possible time. Owoseni said that the Governor immediately or­dered a joint operation to hunt down the perpetra­tors, adding that the opera­tion was yielding positive results. “So far so good follow­ing the attack that occurred at Ishawo where we lost four of our policemen and an army captain, we have deployed operatives in the water. What you have seen now is for us to appraise what we have been doing for the past one week. So, quality arrests have been made and we are talking to them because the arrests that were made we believe that we get some evidential value from them, so they are talking to us, at least that makes us to know who we are looking for so that we won’t be just wild catch­ing,” Owoseni said. The Commissioner of Police who was joined on the inspection of the joint operation to the den of the militants in Ishawo Creeks by the Commander, Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Mr. Tunji Disu, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Habib Aruna, security squad leaders and some journalists, said the visit was to appraise the work done so far and the next line of action. “Earlier this morning, they were able to get to the proper camps of these criminal elements where they saw some of them cooking food who fled immediately they saw the combined team. We just feel that we should take a decision to destroy the camps. “The destruction of the camps are ongoing, that is why we are here and the of­ficers that are handling the destruction of the camps, they are right inside the creeks now and at the end of the day, they would share the story as they finish the operations, but our move­ment here is just for you to see the terrain and see what the security operatives are facing with regards to po­licing this environment and that is why we are clamour­ing for the destruction of these shanties”, Owoseni said.