Big Brother Lagos: FG Instals 906 CCTV Cameras in Lagos

Governor Babatunde Fashola

The Lagos State Government yesterday confirmed that the federal government had installed 906 close circuit television (CCTV) cameras to boost security of lives and property in different parts of the state.

The state government also faulted reports that the federal government had stayed action on the installation of the CCTV cameras in the state, revealing that the project would soon be formally inaugurated.

The Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr. Adebiyi Mabadeje, disclosed the development at a news conference at the state secretariat, Alausa, explaining that the federal government rolled out 1,000 CCTV cameras in the state.

Mabadeje, who addressed the conference alongside his information and strategy counterpart, Mr. Aderemi Ibirogba, added that the federal government had been working with the state government to make the project a success.

He said the state government did a pilot of CCTV only in three locations in the state, noting that it installed in three places including Falomo Bridge, Third Mainland Bridge and one other place and the aim was to check the effectiveness of the concept.

He said the pilot scheme was a successful exercise and there was a plan to take it to all parts of the state before the federal government had approached the state government that it was running the installation of the CCTV project.

According to him, the federal government listed Abuja and Lagos as the two cities that would benefit from the programme.

“When they started, they engaged the Lagos State Government. We concluded that why the state government would spend tax-payers money on what the federal government has concluded plans to install in the state.

He added that the federal government “rolled out a thousand cameras in Lagos State as a start, but about 906 have been installed. This represents the number that the state government has physically seen. We have been working with the central government on this. The cameras will not be everywhere now.

“But we know that the intention of the central government is to deploy it to all the nooks and crannies of the state. It will roll out to other areas that are more remote in the state. The project started with urban areas. The project has not been abandoned. It is in phases. There is not any stay action from the federal government.

“The project is ongoing and this is contrary to the notion that the project has been abandoned. I have been to their command centre in Ikeja. We hope to close all the open ends with the Federal Government as soon as possible for the project to commence full activities,” the commissioner explained.