Concerns have been raised by the Lagos State Police Command regarding the production of several kinds of weapons in Lagos, such as assault rifles, AK-47s, and handguns made abroad and locally.

When IGP Kayode Egbetokun, the acting inspector general of police, was touring Lagos yesterday, Mr. Idowu Owohunwa, the command head, revealed this.

Owohunwa, who noted that Lagos State presented distinctive security challenges on account of its demography and socio-economic interplays, said its internal security space in recent times had been laced with the threats of cultism, armed robbery, kidnapping, murder and sexual and gender-based violence.

He said the command was also confronted with the challenge of dissecting and dealing with the thin line between the civil and criminal dynamics of land disputes, which are also prevalent in the state.

Crime profile of the state, according to him, “is further accentuated by the prevalence of illegal firearms proliferation, and illicit drug abuse and trafficking.

“Hardly does a day passes by without the ever vigilant operatives of the command recovering weapons and illicit drugs of various descriptions at stop and search points, raids of black spots, and other operational engagements with all such recoveries linked to the perfection of crimes across the State.

“Most worrisome in all these is a noticeable trend that indicates an increasing local expertise in the fabrication of various types of firearms including replicas of foreign made pistols, AK47 and other assault rifles.

“This trend, coupled with the threat of cultism, projects a potent danger to the security space of Lagos State.”

“Also of routine concern is the traffic gridlock and the attendant occasional traffic robberies, which are compounded by on-going road projects across the state including, in particular, the Lagos-Ibadan highway.”

In light of the circumstances, he indicated that the command was preparing to call a conference shortly in order to mainstream the conversation about cultism and violent crimes in Lagos and to galvanize all relevant parties and state governance levels towards the growing threat.