THE new Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu has said that managing the menace of traffic in the metropolis would be his top priority.
Odumosu made this known during a news conferece on Monday in Ikeja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Odumosu took over from AIG Zubairu Muazu, who was recently promoted from Commissioner of Police to Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG).
Muazu has been posted to Force Headquarters, Abuja as AIG in charge of Counter Terrorism Unit.
The commissioner said that bad roads were the major cause of traffic in Lagos State, adding that poor attitude of drivers also contributed to the traffic problem in the state.
“The Lagos State Government under Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has started palliatives on all the roads especially now that the rains have subsided.
“However, I urge him to do more of the palliatives because bad roads contribute to traffic congestion.
“If we have the government tackling bad roads from that angle and we the police on the road controlling the traffic, congestion would be reduced to a minimum.
“Once traffic flows, we would have reduced crime by at least 30 per cent in the city,” Odumosu said.
He said that more men would be mobilised from all sections of the police so that there would be enough personnel to manage traffic in the state.
The commissioner also said that he had alerted and educated the various Divisional Police Officers (DPO) and Area Commanders on the need to change strategy towards traffic management.
“We need to change our traffic management strategy such as the time of reporting for duty and the time of closing of the traffic officers.
“The closing time for any traffic junction will be 10 pm and in areas where the traffic congestion is very serious, the time would be extended to 12 midnight,” he said.
The new CP added that part of the strategy to affect community policing would include publishing the phone numbers of all the DPOs in national dailies for easy access by the public.
“Improved communication matters in every relationship for sustainability and growth. So, we want to reduce the gap between the police and the members of the public through the press,” he said.
Odumosu also said that his administration would tackle commercial motorcyclists’ infractions.
