The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris on Tuesday appointed Imohimi Edgal, as the new Commissioner of Police in-charge-of the Lagos State Command, following his recent promotion to the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP, by the Police Service Commission.
TheNewsGuru.com reports that Edgal, until his promotion worked closely with the former Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni to tackle crime in Lagos.
Edgal, a seasoned police officer, was instrumental in ending activities of the dreaded Badoo cult and militants carrying out kidnappings within Ikorodu and its adjoining communities.
Journey into Nigeria Police Force
Edgal was enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force, as a cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police, on February 2, 1986, serving in various commands and formations of the NPF within the country in several capacities, spending most of his days at the Lagos State Police Command.
A 1984 graduate of Art at the University of Jos, who went on to bag a masters degree in Public and International Affairs at the University of Lagos in 2004, Edgal is highly trained on Community and Intelligence Gathering Policing, enabling him in organising the first Community Policing summits in Ikeja GRA, Lagos State.
Promotions, trainings and certifications
It’s on record that Edgal, who served as the Divisional Police Officer of Shomolu Police Division, Seme Police Division, Ikeja and Surelere Police Divisions, between the year 2003 and 2011, as a Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP, before he was promoted and appointed the Assistant Commissioner of Police, ACP, in-charge-of the Area A, Command, Lagos, obtained a diploma degree in Police Science. He also obtained a certificate of National Security for Nigeria Defense Intelligence, at the Centre of Strategic Studies, Galilee International Management Institute Israel and the Defense Intelligence College Abuja in 2015, which necessitated his appointment as the ACP in-charge-of the Intelligence at the Police Force Headquarters, Abuja.
An expert in Community Policing, Edgal attended several courses organised by the Department For International Development, DFID, United Kingdom, in Lagos, Awka, Anambra States and Staff College Jos, Plateau State, making him Community Policing in Nigeria. In 2010, Edgal, as DPO Ikeja Division, launched the first Community Policing in Ikeja Lagos State. He hosted security stakeholders in Ikeja, at Savoy Suite, GRA and lectured participants on how to assist the police on Community Policing.
Working alliance with local vigilante groups to curb crime
Following his promotion to the rank of a DCP and his appointment as DC ops Lagos State, Edgal through his community policing experience, mobilised a joint security operation, involving members of the Oodua Progress Congress, OPC, Ikorodu Local Vigilante, Oyebo, the Departments of State Security, DSS, Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps, traditionalists and some local chiefs in Ikorodu, in tackling the menace of the Badoo cult group, which has killed several persons in Ikorodu and Ogijo areas of Lagos and Ogun State, his effort aided the discovery of a suspected notorious shrine which is used for ritual purposes .
Gallant policing efforts
The New Lagos Police Commissioner played a huge role in the successful rescue of the six kidnapped students, of Lagos Model College, Igbonla, Epe, who were abducted on May 25, 2017, by gunmen who invaded the school. Edgal was said to have mobilised policemen from the Anti-Robbery and Kidnapping units of the Lagos Command Police, and their counterparts at the Marine Police in attacking and killing members of the kidnap gang when they attempted to snatching some police gunboats, from the Marine Police Post in Ajah.
The leader of the kidnap gang, known as America was killed in that operation, his death and the subsequent arrest of relatives of his gang members compelled members of gang in releasing the kidnapped students in Ondo State.
