Over the next three days, Nigerians will be celebrating the end of the Ramadan fast and all public offices and school will be shut. Warning that this may be an opportunity for terrorists to strike the US embassy in Nigeria has issued a statement on its website, warning about possible attacks on locations frequented by expatriates.
A similar security warning was given in December last year, while in May 2014, diplomats warned of a possible attack on two Sheraton hotels in Lagos, after a car bombing in the capital, Abuja, killed 19 just days before a major economic summit. Similar warnings were given in April 2012 and November 2011 about hotels popular with Westerners in Abuja.
Lagos, a melting pot megacity of some 20m people, has been spared the worst excesses of violence by the Islamist group Boko Haram, whose seven-year insurgency has destroyed Nigeria’s northeast. However, the coastal city has been hit before as on June 25, 2014, explosions ripped through the port area near a major fuel depot.
At the time, the authorities blamed the blast on a cooking gas cylinder which exploded but eyewitnesses and Western diplomats said it was a car bomb that killed at least four people. Boko Haram’s shadowy leader, Abubakar Shekau, later claimed responsibility.
In its latest warning, the US embassy’s did not mention a specific group but urged its citizens to review your personal security plans, remain aware of their surroundings, including local events, and monitor local news stations for updates. However, the Lagos States Police Command yesterday assured the public that adequate and necessary security measures had been put in place during and after the Eid el-Fitr celebrations.
Police spokesperson Dolapo Badmos, assured the Muslim faithful and the public of their safety during the celebrations. She said the command had put in place appropriate operational strategies to ensure a hitch-free Eid-el-Fitri celebrations at all praying grounds, recreational centres, hotels and all other public places.
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