Yuletide: Lagos bans open procession, fireworks

Lagos State government has banned all forms of open processions during the yuletide season, urging the residents to limit such gatherings to the enclosure of the venue.

Fatai Owoseni, the state commissioner of police, said this as part of the decisions reached at an emergency State Security Council meeting, chaired by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Wednesday.

Owoseni said this was due to the intelligence reports on security, which indicated the possibility of such processions being hijacked by hoodlums and criminal elements.

He said inasmuch as the government would like residents to celebrate the yuletide with all the fanfare associated with the season, the security situation across the globe required everyone to be on red alert so as to prevent unscrupulous elements from unleashing terror on innocent citizens.

While insisting that the order restricting the use of fireworks in the state is still in force, Owoseni alongside heads of other security agencies in Lagos said that law enforcement officers had been sent out to arrest those selling and distributing the device in the market.

He however said the state was not under any special security threat, but that proactive measures had been put in place to forestall any breakdown of law and order.

“We all know that Christmas and New Year are fast approaching. Looking at what we have on ground in terms of strategies and logistics, the Council is convinced that we can reassure people in Lagos that this period of yuletide will be celebrated without let or hindrance.”

On the issue of false alarm, the police commissioner said the security agencies were in possession of some intelligence reports to the effect that some miscreants were planning to raise false alarm and take advantage of such situation to rob their victims.

He urged residents to be mindful and thoroughly scrutinise any alarm raised, especially in public places.