LAGOS - Gov. Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State today decried the poor response by private investors to the state-managed security trust fund.

  The Fund, established in 2007 was to provide a clear way of institutionalising an enduring private-public approach to resource problems of security in the state.

  Fashola who spoke in Lagos at the re-launch of the Trust Fund, observed that less than one-twentieth of large and medium commercial outfits in Lagos had contributed to the fund.
 

He urged banks, telecommunication companies, boutiques, supermarkets, breweries, and other small-scale manufacturers that had benefited from the noticeable improved security in the state to donate to the fund.

  He said that his administration had justified the establishment of the Trust Fund by securing lives and property of citizens.

  “We have been able to restore a large measure of public confidence in the ability of government to secure lives and property from donations to the fund,” he said.

  He recalled that 225 vehicles and other equipment had been distributed to the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), the police command and other military formations.

  Fashola who said that crime was a business for those involved in it, said: “As our responses become more successful, members of the criminal fraternity have become more creative.”

  He added that, that had informed the government to be more ingenuous in crime fighting.

  Also speaking, Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo, the Commissioner of Police in the state, restated that his mission was to ensure a zero tolerance to crime and other vices.

  The commissioner noted that criminal activities were decreasing due to increased supply of modern equipment by the state government.

  He, however, identified armed robbery, car snatching and bank robberies as the major challenges facing the command.

  Akpoyibo said that the command would need 60 armoured personnel carriers in addition to helicopters and vehicles.

  Mr. Remi Makanjuola, the chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT) of the Fund recalled that it had assisted the Nigerian Navy to repair its dormant patrol boats.

  “We have maintained a strong vehicular operational capacity with strong maintenance culture and back-up systems from the Fund,” he noted.

  He said that the establishment of the 767 distress toll-free lines was also part of the achievements of the Fund.