LASG to Confiscate Buildings, Hotels Used for Kidnapping

The Lagos State Government on Tuesday unveiled an anti-kidnapping measure which, it said, empowered the state agents to confiscate any structure whether commercial or residential, used for kidnapping in the state.

Likewise, the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, charged all the traditional rulers and residents of the state to be security-conscious in the face of kidnapping and criminality in the state.

The new measure was made public after the State Security Council meeting attended by the heads of security agencies in the state under the chairmanship of the state governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode.

The meeting was attended by the Commissioner for Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni.

Addressing journalists after the meeting, Owoseni said the Security Council had resolved that the state government “will henceforth confiscate houses and hotels used as hideouts for kidnapping and other criminal activities in the state.”

He said the state government “is to eradicate the menace of kidnapping and militancy in the state. There is no hiding place for criminal elements. It has been resolved that any structure, building or any places that criminal elements are using in the state will be confiscated.

He said the state “will not hesitate in the interest of the public to take over those safe havens, structures or houses that these criminal elements are using as hidden places to perpetrate their activities.

“The state still wants to use this opportunity to further enlighten the member of the public on the need to observe laws of the state government in order to make life easy for people in Lagos.”