On Tuesday, December 19, a group of commercial bike riders at Mpape Bus Stop in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) complained of high levels of kidnapping and other crimes in the nation’s capital while interacting with The ICIR.
Most of them claimed they tried to close early this Yuletide period to avoid being a victim of criminal activities.
An average Nigerian will share the same thoughts as the bike riders because of the rate of crime and insecurity that often characterise this season every year.
Experience shows there are more insecurity concerns and heightened fear of crimes towards the end of every year in Nigeria.
People take time off work to celebrate with their family and loved ones during the Yuletide season, which increases traffic and probably increases road insecurity.
Leaving their homes and shops for a long time makes them more vulnerable to burglary by thieves.
Stealing appears to be more common around this time of the year because of the ungodly haste to make money and meet certain responsibilities.
In this report, Bankole Abe gathers safety tips from stakeholders in the security sector that could help Nigerians navigate this season.
What Nigerians should do to enhance security – Police
In a chat with The ICIR on Tuesday, December 19, the spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Olumuyiwa Adejobi, advised citizens to take the following precautions to remain safe this Yuletide season:
- Avoid night trips.
- Don’t be reckless while driving on highways, and avoid overspeeding.
- Don’t drink when you drive, and don’t drive when you drink. Watch your speed, not your time. Observe road signals.
- Be moderate in whatever you do. Every man has his gauges and limits.
- Funseekers must be law-abiding, security-conscious, and decent in their dealings. They must avoid crisis and violence.
- Respect law enforcement agents on duty and be friendly to them. This will save you from many unwarranted issues and confrontations.
- Use our distress call lines and complaint lines when in need and distress.
- Take note and expose any strange or unusual faces around you or in your community.
- If you see something, say something.
- Avoid the antics of fraudulent elements by confirming your intended customers’ and clients’ status and identity.
- Don’t announce travel plans on social media or in public.
- Close all gates, doors, and windows properly before going to bed.
- Patronise official government and privately owned parks and garages for your safety.
- Be a vigilant neighbour, be your brother’s keepers.
Suggestions from security experts
Kabir Adamu, managing director of Beacon Consulting Limited, said four major elements increased exposure to risk during this period.
He said the first is that people travel a lot, leading to the possibility of being attacked on the road.
“People leave their homes to visit villages or even go on holidays. There is risk associated with that,” Adamu said.
Secondly, many festivities happen during the holidays, with associated risks.
Thirdly, he blamed the spike in criminal activity during this period on many people travelling away from their homes.
According to him, criminals take advantage of homes without occupants or even where the occupants have reduced.
Lastly, he said the deployment of large security personnel along routes and in several locations during this period exposes security personnel to risk.
“So identify the threat, calculate the impact and your vulnerability to that impact, which is the risk and then take measures to either reduce or eliminate that risk.
“If you must travel by road, what are the times these bandits attack the road? Is it daytime or nighttime? If it’s nighttime, can you ensure you arrive at your destination in daylight so you don’t travel at night?
“If you follow this method of identifying the threat, calculating the impact and the vulnerability and then, of course, putting in place mitigation measures, once you do that, for all the threat elements, you would have reduced your exposure to the risk.
Adamu recommended mitigation as a strategy for staying safe during the Yuletide period.
According to him, mitigation is usually divided into at least four to five layers.
- Detect the threat element.
- Deny – if it’s a house, you have to put security on your doors and other things to stop threat elements from penetrating the house.
- Delay the threat element.
- Respond – if something happens, you should have the security forces’ telephone number.
- Recovery – after the incident, if you’ve done all the first four listed and something happens, you do the fifth one.
“So any security protection you have that has all of these five, you’re good,” Adamu stated.
Also contributing to the issue, the director of publicity, Arewa Youths for Peace and Security, Dantata Mohammed, gave the following tips.
- Ensure that you board commercial vehicles from approved bus stops.
- For long journeys, passengers should endeavour to go to parks where passenger manifests will be filled.
- For local runnings, take registered numbers side numbers for painted taxis and avoid boarding vehicles at isolated places.
- Avoid overcrowded areas and unknown people, and don’t stay up late at night.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance