A security expert and analyst, Adib Saani of the Centre for Human Security has advised holidaymakers to stop posting too much information about their travel plans and holiday pictures on social media during the festive season.
He indicated such actions enable criminals to establish profiles about their victims. Once the condition is conducive for them they shall take advantage of one’s absence and carry out their criminal activities.
He notified the general public that crimes go up during festive seasons such as Christmas for a number of reasons. He identified the exchange of gifts, leaving traces of gifts and valuable items received in your house, and the quest to survive by some people as some causes of crime during Christmas.
In other cases, people travel for conventions and other programmes while others display their holiday pictures on social media to show that they are not at home.
He made the statement when he spoke in an interview on the Morning Express show on Radio Angelus Wednesday, 16 December 2020.
The security expert also stressed the need for some sections of the public to invest in the security of their facilities. He advised that one should not wait until they suffer from crime before securing the service of security companies.
“A lot of Ghanaians are not security conscious”, he said.
Mr. Adib Saani also said that security agencies could replicate their security programmes for festive seasons in order to address security challenges associated with such occasions. He cited the ‘Operation Father Christmas’ as one of such interventions put together by the Police to combat crime in the previous year. He also mentioned public education as another strategy the police could repeat to help the public appreciate the need to secure life and property.
The security analyst again advised car owners to install car tracking devices on their cars noting that incidents of car snatching increase during seasons such as Christmas. Furthermore, homes should be protected with burglar proof materials.
Mr. Adib Saani was optimistic that in the course of the Christmas the police and even the military would be on patrols at night through the street and some security hotspots.
Source: Radio Angelus
