Public holidays are days set aside to celebrate or remember past events. With an average of 20 days observed as public holidays annually, Nigeria is not a stranger to observing holidays.

The holidays allow many to visit loved ones, while others use the work-free days to do other things that interest them. Nigeria is a very religious country with a soft spot for holidays to celebrate historic events in their faith.

Holidays like Eid-al-Fitr (End of Ramadan), Eid-al-Adha are some of the recognised public days for the Muslim faithful. While the Christians also have the Easter and Christmas days as public holidays.

During these periods a good number of Nigerians travel to their villages to visit their aged parents and other extended families and quickly dash back to return to their bases as soon as the holidays are over.

The Christmas season is here and we are already anticipating the start of the New Year. The streets are beginning to get lightened up, all in the spirit of Christmas. As good as it seems, there are several security challenges that usually ruin some of the festive moment.

5 Handy Tips to Keep Your Home and Office Safe and Secure During the Holidays

This article will help you stay safe during and after the Christmas and New Year holidays. These tips will cover your home, office and travel security; your home should be safe even when you are not around.

1. Let a neighbour know you are travelling.

It is always good that you inform a trusted neighbour about your movements, it is a way of entrusting your home security. If you are blessed enough to have a security guard at your home, then you might only need to tell your guard if you don’t trust your neighbours enough. But a good neighbour will give you the cover you need.

When you have a neighbour watching over your house or room while you are on a trip, it makes it look as though someone is around. Since they know you are not around, they can easily raise an alarm when they see strangers loitering around your properties. These strangers could be criminals trying to burgle your home. Mind you, criminals are also on a lookout for homes of people who have travelled (criminals also have informants).

Should there be a case of robbery or house burgling, information from your trusted neighbour can aid the recovery of the stolen items. This tip is probably the oldest form of home security.

2. Keep your travel plans offline.  

If you are planning to travel during the holiday season, be sure to keep your travel plans off your social media networks.

Social media have helped to improve communication and engagement for both businesses and individual. It has opened windows of opportunities for growth to many. Unfortunately, social media has also been the Achilles heel for personal security.

Never share your travel plans online (personal website, facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms). For criminals, nothing makes them happier than knowing where you are going to be par time; you will be making it easy for them to rob you of your valuables.

When sharing pictures online you, be careful in tagging a location when you know you practically have no one at your home. Always keep a low profile; the picture uploads can wait till you get back from your vacation or travels.

3. Avoid Night Travels

Security issues like as kidnap and ritual killings have been known to happen mostly when it’s dark. While there is no good time to be security conscious, ritual killings are at a higher incidence at the end of the year.

It is easier to identify criminals in the broad daylight, when boarding a bus, take a moment to look at the people you meet in the bus eye-ball-to-eye-ball. Check to see whether they are under some drug influence. Passengers must look active, avoid boarding one where passengers are sleeping or looking physically tired – they could have been drugged or enchanted.

Also, avoid entering a bus without an inner light, it’s just too risky! All the aforementioned precautions would be difficult to take if you travel or walk at night. Do what you can to get to your destination before dark, otherwise get yourself a flashlight and a pepper spray for self-defense.

4. Don’t take free rides & Avoid picking up strangers

There is no crime trying to help out someone who looks stranded, but it is a lot safer to help someone who is not a stranger. Criminals have exploited the generosity of many to rob them of their valuables.

A lot of people are desperate to get enough money to celebrate Christmas and New Year, so it difficult to tell if the person genuinely needs help.

Also, avoid the temptation to accept free rides from strangers, board a vehicle to your preferred destination at approved garages, even if the transport fare is unreasonably high!

5. Hire a Security Guard

You need someone to watch over your properties when you are away; you need someone to check whether your gates remain under locks and keys while you are gone for the holidays. You need someone to raise alarm when strangers come loitering around your home or office.

All these are some of the things will get with a professional security guard, If you run a mall you know you need to intensify your security because you will be getting more people coming to your mall for shopping.

The presence of a security guard deters crimes from being committed. Hiring a security guard at other locations like hospitals, churches, parks, motor garages, market place and corporate offices can be very helpful too.

Whether you run a big or small business, employing the services of professional security guards will help you save a lot of time and money.

Now it’s your call

These tips have been shared to help you have a truly secured holiday, take a moment to share this post with family and friends, as we continue you to provide you with up-to-date tips for your everyday security.

From everyone at Sheriff Deputies Limited, we wish you a crime-free Christmas and a prosperous New Year 2020.