Federal government has declared Monday July 11 and Tuesday, July 12, as public holidays to mark this year’s Eid-el-Kabir celebration.
The announcement by the minister of interior, Rauf Aregbesola was made in a statement by the ministry’s permanent secretary, Dr Shuaib Belgore, yesterday.
Aregbesola congratulated all Muslims and Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora on the occasion.
The statement reads in part, “I call on Muslims to continue to imbibe the spirit of love, peace, kindness and sacrifice, as exemplified by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) and to also use the period to pray for peace, unity, prosperity and the stability of the country, considering the challenges of insecurity we face at the moment.”
He assured that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is “committed to the security of lives and properties of all Nigerians, empowering the citizens for successful living, the provisions of social investments programmes and adequate security in the schools.”
While wishing Muslims a happy Eid-el Kabir celebration, the minister urged Nigerians to take responsibility by reporting any suspicious individuals and criminal activities they observed around them to law enforcement agencies with the use of N-Alerts application that has been designed to mitigate security challenges.
He also enjoined all Nigerians to be vigilant and observant of intruders in their communities.
Meanwhile, ahead of this year’s Eid-el-Kabir celebration, the leadership of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), has ordered the deployment of over 30,000 officers and men to beef up security across the nation.
Addressing heads of directorates, departments, zonal commanders, state commandants, area commanders and divisional officers , the Corps , commandant – general, Dr
Ahmed Abubakar Audi, ordered massive deployment of trained dogs, and special squad across board to ensure hitch free celebration.
The NSCDC boss, in a statement by the Corps’ director of public relations, DCC Olusola Odumosu said,
“We have geared efforts towards keeping our people safe and critical infrastructure protected during and after the Sallah celebration.
“The recent spate of attacks and threats to life and property in the country call for more proactive engagements, rather than reactive actions.
“We need to identify and address areas of concern to our collective safety by deploying personnel adequately to protect soft targets”.
He said that Nigerians deserve a safe and peaceful environment and must not allow bandits and terrorists to hold the country to ransom now or anytime during festivity.
He said that he has ordered the deployment of over 30,000 personnel across all our formations for effective deployment to all nooks and crannies to address all forms of threats to national security.
Audi assured the public that adequate security would be put in place to safeguard praying grounds, recreation centres, markets, shopping malls, motor parks and all critical national assets and infrastructure.
