CP Fatai leads a marathon and warns youth against political thuggery, violence, etc

The Lagos State Police Command has urged youths across the State to reject political thuggery, electoral violence, cultism, drug abuse and other social vices as Nigeria gradually enters another election season.
The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, CP Tijani Fatai, gave the charge on Wednesday while leading a youth awareness marathon organized as part of activities marking the 2026 International Youth Day celebration.
The march, which began at the Lagos State Police Command Headquarters, Ikeja, moved through Ipodo to Computer Village where police personnel joined youths, members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), National Students Association and other youth groups, as well as traders and community leaders.
Fatai said the initiative aims to raise awareness among young people of their responsibilities as critical stakeholders in society and encourage them to contribute positively to the development of their communities.
The police commissioner warned youths against allowing themselves to be used as instruments of violence during the election campaign, stressing that youths constitute the majority of participants in political campaigns and electoral activities.
He said: “We are entering the electoral process and the campaigns are starting. From experience, most of the time, violence and other threats are associated with political campaigns and processes.
“We don’t want things to stay the same. We want our young people to know that they have to contribute meaningfully and positively to the electoral process, and not negatively.”
Fatai urged participants to take the message back to their various communities and educate other young people who did not participate in the march about the need for peaceful participation in democratic activities.
He advised young people to focus on building a better future rather than allowing themselves to be manipulated by politicians for personal or political interests.
Also speaking were the Chairman of the Lagos State Youth Council, Engr. Ibrahim Adigun, urged youths to be vigilant and resist attempts by politicians to recruit them for electoral violence.
Adigun said politicians who sponsor violence will not expose their children to the dangers associated with political crime.
He said: “None of these politicians will use their children for violent or electoral criminal purposes. They use nobody’s children. But I want to say categorically that there is no one who is nobody. All of us are important in this world.”
He warned that young people who embrace violence, drug abuse, cultism and other criminal activity risk destroying their future.
Likewise, the Lagos State Coordinator for Police Campaign Against Cultism and Other Vices (POCACOV), SP Olivia A. Ugochukwu, urged youths to reject attempts to recruit them into political violence and disassociate themselves from activities that could jeopardize their future.
Ugochukwu said the marathon, conducted in line with the directive of the Inspector General of Police, was aimed at sending a positive signal across the country on the need for youths to embrace peace and reject political criminality.
He said: “We want to send a positive signal to the young people out there to embrace peace, ensure that they eliminate violence, eliminate crime and political violence, so that we can have the better future that we all wait for.”
The command stressed that youths remain critical to the future of Nigeria and must therefore make responsible choices that promote peace, security and democratic development.