This Lagos! 10-Year-Olds Smoke Hemp In Ajegunle

The new Divisional Police Officer in charge  of  Ajeromi Police Station, Ajegunle, Mr. Slyvia Chinedu (CSP) has lamented that kids as young as 10 years old openly smoke marijuana on the streets of Ajegunle.

He stated this during a visit to the council of Chiefs and Elders and the people of Aiyetoro.

“What type of children do we have? A visit to the mortuary will show you that many of the corpses there are thse of the youths. It is here I realised that little children from age 10-17 smoke Indian hemp openly on the streets of Ajegunle,” he said.

“You need to see the number of girls from Ajegunle moving out every evening to go and prostitute in Apapa, Ikeja and Lagos Island on daily basis. Same thing goes for the number of your children who are armed robbers and move out everyday from this environment to go and rob in other locations.

“I have been talking to my policemen to see how I can change some of their attitude which are part of the problems.

“I learnt that there was a time in the past when the people of Ajegunle rose up one day and marched from house to house chasing out all the criminals among them. This time, we are going to do the same thing.

“I want the elders to constitute peace and security committees, have a central committee and subcommittees on street-by-street basis. Many of you were born and grew up in this area, so you know these criminal elements better than I do. They are not spirits, they are human and they live among you.

“We will no longer raid any house in Ajegunle alone. It is the community that will identify the criminal hideouts and will invite the police and together, we shall raid these hideouts. This is some sort of community policing,” he said.

According to him, “Police alone cannot do it and where there is peace, there will be development and progress. Development can never be achieved in a community prone to crisis.

“I was posted to Ajah community in Lekki when that place was on fire. A lot of people were killed; so many things happened. I hope and pray that my assignment here will be better than what I did in Ajah.

“Ajegunle is a mini-Nigeria. Here, you have Igbo, Yoruba, Ijaw, Hausa, every tribe in Nigeria is well represented in Ajegunle. Having considered this and other issues, I discovered that it is a complex society to govern and to police.”

Responding, Chief (Alhaji) Sheu Aremu Olola, Baale of Aiyetoro said: “We the people of Aiyetoro are peace-loving people, so we are ready to cooperate fully with the new DPO. This is evident in the number of people who have come out today to listen to you.”