EID CELEBRATION: FG declares Thursday, Friday as public holidays, as FRSC deploys 1,797 personnel, 20 patrol vehicles in Oyo

The Federal Government of Nigeria has declared Thursday 30th and Friday 31st July, 2020, as Public Holidays to mark this year’s Eid el-Kabir Celebration.

The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola made this known in a statement issued on Tuesday where he congratulated Muslim faithful and all Nigerians both at home and abroad on the occasion.

In the statement, the minister also called on Muslims to continue to imbibe the spirit of love, peace, kindness and sacrifice, as exemplified by the Holy Prophet Muhammad.

“Muslims are urged to also use the period to pray for peace, unity, prosperity and the stability of the country especially as the world is witnessing global health challenges caused by Covid-19 pandemic,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, the Oyo State Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), has informed that it will deploy a total number of 1,797 personnel, including special Marshals during the Eid-el- Kabir celebration to ensure a free flow of traffic.

This was confirmed by the FRSC Sector Commander in Oyo State, Mrs Chukwurah Uche, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) on Tuesday in Ibadan.

She added that aside from its plan to carry out 24 hours of rescue operation throughout the celebration for Road Traffic Crash (RTC) victims, the command would also clear gridlock-prone areas in the state for easy movement of vehicles.

Mrs Uche also noted that the command would ensure that vehicles were not overloaded in terms of passengers and goods, as well as complied with social distancing, especially for commercial vehicles.

“The command will ensure that COVID-19 protocols such as the use of face mask, social distancing in vehicles are enforced to curtail the spread of the virus in a period like this.

“We are going all out to ensure that passengers and others adhere to the use of face mask and other COVID-19 protocols.

“On our part, we have provided all Personal Protective Equipment needed by the staff so as not to endanger their lives by contracting the virus in the course of their job, so they will be well equipped during this celebration,” she said.