In the late nineties, the military administration in Lagos State, confronted with security challenges, set up a security outfit from the regular police and infused it with officers and men of the Nigerian Armed Forces, including the Navy, Air Force and Army, to provide watertight security for the citizens.
In keeping with its mandate, the security outfit, named Operation Sweep, worked to restore sanity in Lagos, but the excesses of the military couldn’t allow a flawless operation of the outfit.
With the return of democracy in 1999, the Governor of Lagos State then, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, now President Tinubu, organised the outfit, renamed it Rapid Response Squad (RRS), and immediately removed the officers and members of the Armed Forces, leaving it with only the police that’s saddled with the maintenance of internal security.
Aside from renaming it, the then-Governor Tinubu equally equipped and increased their allowances and other benefits to ensure proficiency and diligence in the discharge of their duties to the people of the state.
Aside from increments in their allowances, Asiwaju Tinubu mandated that they should work in tandem with democratic tenets, unlike when they were working with military fiats, warning that they should be concerned about violent crimes and not become debt collectors or an avenue to oppress other vulnerable people in society.
With this mandate, the new outfit sprang into action with the Late ACP Tunde Sobulo as commander.
The late Assistant Commissioner of Police, who was trained in the United States and ingrained into the
personnel of the squad, the need to maintain sanity at all times without infringing on the rights of the people they are paid to protect.
From there, the RRS became the darling of Lagosians, as the people rely mostly on them for their
protection and support in times of need or emergencies.
Since then, officers and men of the RRS have shown resilience, commitment and diligence in
their operations, as they have restricted their operations to only violent crime and support for the
vulnerable in society.
The activities of the squad has made Lagosians sleep with both eyes closed, knowing fully well that
The men of the outfit will be out patrolling the nooks and crannies of the state to ensure that criminal hideouts are fished out and criminals dealt with in accordance with the law of the land.
The immediate past Commander, who is also the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, CP Rilwan
Olatunji Disu, while in office, regularly restated to his men and officers the need to be up and doing at all times without compromising professionalism.
CP Olatunji Disu encouraged officers and men of the outfit to be humane and helpful to Lagosians in distress; to this day, they regularly come to the rescue of stranded Lagosians at odd hours and in dangerous places.
His successor, another crime burster, CSP Yinka Egbeyemi, took off from him and has constantly
maintained that integrity matters in police work.
Aside from being the commander, CSP Egbeyemi has never left anyone in doubt that he is a combatant police officer, as he continuously led his officers and men during critical periods of operations, a trait appreciated by the people.
With the strategic placement of their operational vans at locations across the state, the stationed
Armoured personnel carrier (APC) in volatile areas of the state or the patrol of the bridges in the state throughout the day, the RRS has rekindled the hope of the people of Lagos in the ability of the police to combat crimes and criminality with genuine intentions and adequate support and encouragement.
CSP Egbeyemi has continued to show leadership by example as he regularly briefs his men and officers on the need to maintain diligence in the discharge of their duties.
Just recently, with the completion of the third mainland bridge, the commander of the RRS, with the approval of the commissioner of police, has directed a twenty-four-hour patrol of the bridge to wade off criminal elements and rescue where necessary, an order that has been carried out with outmost precision.
So far, Lagos, as a cosmopolitan state, has continuously been safer with the presence and
activities of the RRP and other security agencies.
The Yinka Egbeyemi-led squad can be found at midnight patrolling the major highways and flashpoints to tackle criminals and Lagosians are appreciative of this as they sleep with their eyes closed.