Metro
Edgar Imohimi: Meet new Lagos CP, the nemesis of Badoo, militants, kidnappers
The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has appointed Edgar Imohimi as the new Commissioner of Police in-charge of the Lagos State Command.
This followed Edgar’s recent promotion by the Police Service Commission (PSC)
Edgar was until his promotion, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP, in charge of Operations, in Lagos State.
Observers believe Edgar is the right man to succeed CP Fatai Owoseni, who many say performed excellently. Not only does the new CP knows the Lagos terrain, he led several raids against notorious kingpins, criminal gangs and their hideouts.
DAILY POST reports that in recent times, Lagos witnessed an increase in cases of abductions and militant activities.
It reached a point that the military had to form a special squad that culminated in a joint task force in conjunction other security agencies, as criminals held sway in areas like Badagry, Ikorodu, Isheri, Epe among others.
Exactly a year ago, a number of militants that terrorized Lagos and Ogun states were killed when the task force stormed the creeks.
The criminals drew the anger of the Nigerian government after seven operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) were murdered the night of Tuesday September 16, 2015 by pipeline vandals at Ishawo in Ikorodu.
Although the corpses of the officers were taken away by the assailants, decomposing remains were later found after some of the suspects caught led security agencies to the burial spot.
The incident charged the nation’s security apparatus and what started like a one-off operation lasted a week; the military carried out aerial bombardment of the general area at regular intervals.
Fighter jets mercilessly shelled Ishawo, Igando and Igbolomu areas of Ikorodu in Lagos State, and Arepo, Awawa, Elepete and Ibafo in Ogun State, while ground troops fired any thug in sight.
The operation involved the Nigerian Navy, the Nigerian Air Force, the Nigerian Army, the Department of State Services, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Nigeria Police Force.
It dealt severe blows to criminals that had long engaged in vices such as pipeline vandalism, robbery, murder, rape and kidnapping.
Worthy of note is the new CP, who by his position as DCP Ops, played active part as he co-led that operation.
In 2017, while continuing the war against militants and kidnappers, the Badoo cult became more lethal and Edgar again was up to the task. He coordinated assaults which resulted in arrests of scores of members of the dreaded gang.
Background
Imohimi Edgar was enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force, as a cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police, on February 2, 1986, serving in various commands and formations of the NPF within the country in several capacities, spending most of his days at the Lagos State Police Command.
A 1984 graduate of Art at the University of Jos, went on to bag a master degree in Public and International Affairs at the University of Lagos in 2004. Edgar is highly trained on Community and Intelligence Gathering Policing; he organised the first Community Policing summits in Ikeja GRA, Lagos State.
Edgar, who served as the Divisional Police Officer of Shomolu Police Division, Seme Police Division, Ikeja and Surulere Police Divisions, between the year 2003 and 2011, as a Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP, before he was promoted and appointed the Assistant Commissioner of Police, ACP, in-charge-of the Area A, Command, Lagos, ?obtained a diploma degree in Police Science. ?
He also obtained a certificate of National Security for Nigeria Defence Intelligence, at the Centre of Strategic Studies, Galilee International Management Institute Israel and the Defence Intelligence College Abuja in 2015, which necessitated his appointment as the ACP in charge of the Intelligence at the Police Force Headquarters Abuja.
An expert in Community Policing, Edgar attended several courses organised by the Department For International Development, DFID, United Kingdom, in Lagos, Awka, Anambra States and Staff College Jos, Plateau State, making him Community Policing in Nigeria.
In 2010, Edgar, as DPO Ikeja Division, launched the first Community Policing in Ikeja Lagos State. He hosted security stakeholders in Ikeja, at Savoy Suite, GRA and lectured participants on how to assist the police on Community Policing.
Operations
Aside the 2016 joint war on militants which he co-led, Edgar currently leads a joint security operation, involving members of the Oodua Progress Congress, OPC, Ikorodu Local Vigilante, Oyebo, the DSS, Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps, ?traditionalists and some local chiefs in Ikorodu.
The unit was established to specifically tackle the menace of the Badoo cult group. Edgar spearheaded the discovery of a suspected notorious shrine used for ritual purposes.
The new CP also played a major role in the rescue of the six kidnapped students of Lagos Model College, Igbonla, Epe, who were abducted on May 25, 2017.
The students – Agbaosi Judah, Jonah Peter, Philips Pelumi, Adebanjo George , Yusuf Faruq and Ramon Isiaka – were freed after 65 days.
It would also be recalled that Edgar mobilised policemen from the Anti-Robbery and Kidnapping units of the Lagos Police, and their counterparts at the Marine Police to attack and kill members of the kidnap gang that attempted to snatch some police gunboats from the Marine Police Post in Ajah.
The leader of the kidnap gang, known as America, was killed in that operation. His death and the subsequent arrest of relatives of his gang members, compelled abductors of the kidnapped Epe students to free their captives in Ondo State.
A tragic incident occurred on Saturday morning in the Ojodu-Berger area of Lagos State, as a building housing a popular local restaurant on Oremeta Street collapsed, leaving many feared dead.
The building was said to have given way at about 8:00 am, causing panic among residents and passers-by. Eyewitnesses reported a loud rumble before the structure came crashing down, trapping several individuals inside.
Emergency responders, including residents and rescue officials, have since commenced search and rescue operations at the site. As of the time of filing this report, the exact number of casualties remains unconfirmed, but several persons are believed to be trapped beneath the rubble.
Authorities are yet to issue an official statement regarding the cause of the collapse or the number of victims. However, efforts are ongoing to clear the debris and reach those who may still be alive underneath.
More details to follow.
Grief hung heavily in the air as the Zike community in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State laid to rest 51 of its residents brutally murdered in a pre-dawn attack that has once again cast a dark shadow over the troubled region.
The victims, mostly women and children, were gunned down in the early hours of Monday when yet-to-be-identified assailants stormed the sleepy village, firing indiscriminately. The massacre is the latest in a string of violent assaults that have plagued Plateau State in recent times.
At the mass burial held in the community, emotions ran high as families, friends, and sympathizers wept uncontrollably. Traditional mourners draped in black wailed as the victims’ coffins were lowered into the earth — a harrowing scene that has become all too familiar in the region.
Speaking at the funeral, a visibly distraught community leader, Davidson Malison, described the attack as “disheartening” and lamented the scale of the devastation.
“I can tell you the situation is very disheartening,” Malison said. “We are still searching for more corpses. Something needs to be done to put an end to this.”
The Irigwe women leader, Mary Dikwa, echoed similar concerns, calling on the government to step up its responsibility in securing lives and property.
“They have been killing us in this our community,” Dikwa said in tears. “Several times they will come and attack us. This situation has gone out of hand.”
Monday’s carnage came barely two weeks after another deadly assault left over 50 people dead and several others severely injured, despite repeated reassurances by the government to restore peace to the North-Central state.
Reacting to the renewed wave of violence, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ordered security agencies to track down the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
“I have instructed security agencies to thoroughly investigate this crisis and identify those responsible for orchestrating these violent acts,” the President said in a statement released by his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga. “We cannot allow this devastation and the tit-for-tat attacks to continue. Enough is enough.”
As the Zike community mourns yet another loss, residents are left clinging to hope — that someday soon, peace will return to their land and they can finally bury their dead without fearing for the lives of the living.
At least forty people have been confirmed dead following a brutal attack by unidentified assailants on Zike community in Kimakpa, located within the Kwall district of Bassa Local Government Area in Plateau State.
According to local sources, the assault took place in the early hours of Monday, with the attackers storming the village and opening fire indiscriminately. Residents, startled by the sound of gunfire, fled in panic, but many were caught in the hail of bullets.
A community leader in Kwall, Wakili Tongwe, revealed that he and a group of vigilantes, along with some security personnel, were on patrol in a nearby community when the assault occurred.
“We were on routine patrol in a different area when the attackers struck. By the time we arrived, they had already done significant damage,” Tongwe said.
He added that while the joint team of vigilantes and security operatives engaged the assailants and eventually repelled them, the casualties were already high. Thirty-six people were confirmed dead at the scene, with four others succumbing to their injuries later in hospital.
Several other villagers sustained gunshot wounds and are currently receiving treatment in medical facilities nearby.
As of the time of filing this report, security agencies in Plateau State are yet to issue any official statement regarding the incident.
This latest massacre comes barely two weeks after a similar attack in the Bokkos Local Government Area of the state, where over fifty people lost their lives in coordinated assaults on several communities.
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