Beware of highways, worship, recreational centres

Police warn citizens of vulnerable areas ahead of Sallah celebrations
• Lagos airports record low turnout of passengers, Osun declares free train ride
• Foodstuff traders lament poor sales

As Muslim faithful across the world observe the Eid-el-Fitr, an important holiday to mark the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting, the police have identified, at least, four kinds of locations nationwide where attacks can occur.

Force Public Relations Officer, Don Awunah, said in a statement yesterday that the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has ordered all zonal headquarters and state commands to ensure adequate security at such potential “vulnerable places.”

Awunah, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, identified the potential flashpoints to include highways, worship centres, recreation facilities, and government installations.

The police spokesperson said Idris had given directives that security should be beefed up around those locations and other areas later identified to be vulnerable. He called on Nigerians to report vital information to the police and conduct themselves well.

Surprisingly, against the expected turn of events, the two domestic airports in Lagos yesterday witnessed a low turnout of passengers travelling to celebrate the holidays with their loved ones.

The Federal Government had last week declared today and tomorrow as public holidays, to mark the event. It was observed at the two terminals of the Murtala Muhammed Airport that the facilities looked almost deserted, due to lack of passengers.

It was gathered that the airfare from Lagos to Abuja ranged from N21,000 to N24,000 for one way, while a two-way ticket costs between N42,000 to N45,000, depending on the airline and time of departure.

Also, an air ticket from Lagos to Port-Harcourt ranged between N26,000 to N40,000 for a one-way flight, while the two-way flights go for between N45,000 and N79,000, which also depended on the airline and time of departure.

An official of one of the airlines, who pleaded anonymity said passengers’ turnout was low because of the current economic situation in the country. The official, however, noted that despite the hard times facing the country, local flight fares were still at reasonable rates.

“We would have witnessed more turnout if the holidays were on Thursday and Friday. At least, that would have given travellers about four days to celebrate with their loved ones,” he said.

However, despite the prevailing cash crunch, the Osun State government has a free train ride between Lagos and Osogbo, the state capital. The government said the train rides would commence today (Tuesday).

The government is extending the welfarist gesture to residents despite facing severe financial hardship that has made it difficult to pay workers’ salaries. According to a statement from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Cooperatives and Empowerment, the free train ride is in line with the Rauf Aregbesola administration’s tradition of facilitating convenient movement of its citizens in and out of the state during festive seasons.

Similarly, the return journey from Osogbo to Lagos is fixed for Saturday, July 9 at 11am prompt. Similar arrangements apply during every Eid-el-Kabir, Christmas and Easter celebrations.

In another development, dealers in food items have expressed concern over low patronage ahead of the Eid-el-Fitr celebrations. They attributed the poor patronage to the low purchasing power, owing to harsh economic conditions in the country.

Alhaji Usman Suleiman, a pepper dealer at Mile 12, said the market conditions were not encouraging due to the low sales recorded within the past few days.

“The sales are lower, compared to what was recorded last season,” he said, adding that the demand for food items and animals had reduced tremendously, compared to the higher sales recorded last season.

A measure of tomatoes was sold at N700, while pepper goes for N650, as against N250 and N200, respectively, last season.