Police release security tips to churches, mosques

Posted by admin Headlines Tuesday, June 26th, 2012

The Nigeria Police have recommended the setting up of Standard Security Committee by churches and mosques nationwide to work with the police in protecting them against attacks.

This is contained in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday by the Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba.

Mba said members of such committee should be made up of volunteers with impeccable background and passion for the safety of their fellow worshippers.

He added that proper vetting and background check should be carried out on all of them to avoid being infiltrated by “enemies”.

“The committee should work closely with the local police authorities and other relevant security agencies in formulating appropriate security measures to protect places of worship,’’ he said.

Mba said places of worship became targets of attacks because they had limited protective measures and absence of access control as worshipers were not required to provide any means of identification before being allowed in.

Mba named the absence of physical security gadgets such as Close Circuit Television cameras as another factor making them to become “soft targets” to criminal elements.

He said the police had also recommended to officials of places of worship, to carry out “risk assessment and vulnerability surveys” to determine the risk they were exposed to.

He advised that “churches and mosques may consider erecting barriers to keep human and vehicular traffic away from designated areas.”

Mba added that people should avoid rushing to the scene of explosions so as not to expose themselves to danger and to avoid distorting “scene of crime”.

-Punchwp_posts