WARNING! If You’re Travelling For Christmas, Avoid These Mistakes – Police

The Nigeria Police Force public relations officer, Frank Mba, has given some security tips to help Nigerians stay safe while preparing to travel for the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Mba offered the tips when he appeared on Television Continental’s ‘Your View’ breakfast show on Monday.

The Force PRO said many Nigerians put themselves and families in harm’s way due to the things they say or do naively ahead of their trips.

He said, “Before you even begin that trip, I want to advice very strongly that you take adequate precautions to actually safeguard your home before you actually leave your home.

“One of the biggest mistakes a lot of holidaymakers make is that before they even embark on their journey, they have told the whole world that they are travelling, they’ve told them the date that they are travelling, they’ve told them when they are returning and then they begin to post all kinds of pictures on their social media handles, forgetting that criminals are also using the social media.”

Mba said the following security tips can help Nigerians to keep their homes safe while they are away for the holidays.

“You need to first of all make sure that before you leave, you secure your home. So, first of all, be discrete about the information you pass about your travel. So, don’t give out all your travel plans and don’t begin to post pictures even before you complete your trip.

“Secondly, if you know you live in a house that is big and lonely, or a house that stands alone, please create delusion that somebody is in the house. Don’t just let the entire neighbourhood know that you have travelled and probably not coming back for the next two weeks.

“The agelong wisdom (wisdom in quote) passed on to us by our grandparents whereby we try to hide the keys to our houses under the carpet, by the flower pot or on top of air conditioners don’t work again. Criminals now clearly know where you keep your keys.

“If you are travelling and you make the mistake of keeping your keys under your carpet, foot mat or by your flower pots, you might just be making your house vulnerable and a soft target for criminals.

“As a police officer, I’ve seen cases where criminals visit some of those houses where their owners are away, pickup the keys, gain access into the house, stay there sometimes overnight, steal what they need to steal, even cook food there and take a nap before going because they know nobody is going to challenge them.”

The Force PRO further advised that travelers must leave early, avoid night travel and ensure that their vehicles contain a breakdown kit consisting of spare tyre, reflector, jumper cable and flashlights, amongst others.