The ban, according to a statement issued by Abdullahi Bego, the special adviser on Press Affairs and Information to Yobe State governor, Ibrahim Gaidam, was sanctioned by the governor at the end of a security council meeting in Damaturu, the state capital.
According to Bego, the restriction would commence from 6pm today to 7am on Sunday, December 28, 2014.
Unlike in Borno State where all vehicular movements will be restricted for the same period of five days, the ban in Yobe State is only for vehicles coming into or leaving the state.
Bego added, however, that people in various towns across the state can move with their vehicles freely within their own towns except during the curfew hours imposed earlier.
He clarified that hospital ambulance services on emergency assignments will be exempted from these restrictions.
“The state government and security agencies took these decisions in view of the need to ensure the safety and security of citizens throughout the state, especially in the festive, yuletide season,” advising the people to show understanding and patience as these measures were taken in the overall interest of the state and the people.
Christmas: Army slams 5-day ban on vehicular movement in Borno
Just as it did during the last Sallah celebration in Borno State, the 7 Division of the Nigeria Army, Maiduguri, yesterday imposed a five-day restriction of all kinds of activity in the state as Christians celebrate Christmas, according to an official military statement.
The restriction will not only restrict vehicles from moving within the metropolis in Borno State, but also bar vehicles coming in from other neighbouring states.
According to a statement issued from the 7 Division headquarters in Maiduguri and signed by the deputy director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Usman, the restriction of vehicular movement during the yuletide is borne out of security reports that the Boko Haram sect was planning to launch massive attacks on unidentified parts of Borno State “and particularly the state capital (Maiduguri) during the Christmas celebration”.
Colonel Usman said it was owing to this development that “the Division, in consultation with the Borno State government and other security agencies, decided to ban all forms of vehicular movement in the state from 6pm on Wednesday, December 24 to 7am on Sunday, December 28, 2014”.
The statement, however, excluded government officials on essential services and journalists that are duly authorised by their establishments.
The announcement has caused residents and holiday travellers to embark on panic travels to avoid being held up either in the state or on the highways between Borno and Yobe.
Hundreds of travellers, who were rushing out of Borno State to beat the vehicular curfew hours, were held trapped between the highways of Maiduguri and Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, as soldiers in the latter enforced a restriction that came earlier than that of Borno.
Most of the travellers would spend their Sallah holiday on the highway, while others who had to drive back to Maiduguri concluded their return journey on foot as soldiers there did not allow vehicles to drive into the state capital.
Source: Leadership.ng
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