The Lagos State Safety Commission has warned members of the public to be wary of some people who may fraudulently use the office to commit criminal acts.
This security alert came to the fore, yesterday when people portray themselves to be staff or consultants to the commission asking Lagos residents to pay money into individual accounts other than designated government accounts.
Speaking on the development, the Director-General of the Commission, Lanre Mojola said the warning became imperative given reported cases of unscrupulous individuals parading themselves as officials of the commission, thus extorting unsuspecting members of the public.
According to Mojola, the state government does not operate individual accounts, and anyone asking to pay money into such accounts should know that the agents or officials do not represent the Commission.
The DG lamented the activities of unscrupulous members of the public carrying out unlawful activities on behalf of the Safety Commission and extorting members of the public.
Mojola said the commission had put in place stringent measures to curb the activities of some compromised consultants, saying that the commission has had to institute legal actions against impersonators and terminate the consultancy of any consultants found wanting. He mentioned that a particular impersonator was put behind bars recently for several years.
He added that all its consultants have authorised identification cards and must always be worn whenever they were carrying out an audit or inspections.
The Director-General called on members of the public to report promptly to the government activities of unscrupulous officials, consultants, and those impersonating its officials through its hotline 07000SAFETY and 08181002233
He said the commission is responsible for the issuance and withdrawal of overall safety compliance certificates, conducting and reviewing risk assessment reports, conducting investigations on safety issues and making recommendations where necessary, and coordinating all government matters relating to the safety of lives and properties in the state.
Others are the formulation of policies, providing advisory and being the regulatory body on safety-related issues; coordinating and monitoring the activities of relevant organisations involved in safety services in the State; appointing consultants when required to enable the commission to carry out its functions under the provision of the law and foster and maintain effective interaction, networking, and collaboration on safety issues with relevant government agencies.
