The Police Command in Lagos State and the National Emergency Management Agency have placed their operatives on red alert against any attack on warehouses and shopping malls.

The command’s spokesperson, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, stated this during an interview on Thursday.

Mr Hundeyin said that the command had tightened security around the different shopping malls and government warehouses with food items in the state to prevent possible attack by hoodlums.

A warehouse belonging to the Federal Capital Territory’s Department of Agriculture was broken into by hoodlums in the Bwari Area Council.

Also, trucks conveying food items were also looted by some residents in Niger State.

Mr Hundeyin said that the command was living up to its responsibility of providing security to all and sundry in Lagos.

He, however, noted that the command was not anticipating any such attack, stressing that the deployment was just to check acts of violence in the state.

“The command is just being alive to its responsibilities. In fact, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Adegoke Fayoade, has deployed personnel to vulnerable places. Area Commanders, Heads of Tactical Teams and DPOs have also been briefed in that regard.

“Operatives of the state anti-crime outfit, the Rapid Response Squad have also been briefed on the need to keep close watch on government warehouses and malls, where food items and beverages are sold,” he said.

Similarly, NEMA in the South-West Region said its management had beefed up security around their warehouses.

The Coordinator of NEMA in the South-West Zone, Ibrahim Farinloye, disclosed this on Thursday in Lagos.

According to Mr Farinloye, the move is to forestall any attack on government warehouses by miscreants, who may want to hide under the cover of the current challenge in the country, to break into facilities where food items are stored.

He said, “Although, there’s no single food item in the warehouses but all critical stakeholders are on standby for any attempt by anyone to break into them.”

He added that the agency had been directed to beef up security for the safety of all assets of the government in the region.

“We are taking worse scenario precautionary safety measures to safeguard both human and other assets of the Federal Government from unforeseen circumstances,” he said.

(NAN)