Security has been beefed up in and around the Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos and Four Points By Sheraton, Lekki, Lagos.
This followed the warning by the United States Mission in Nigeria that “groups associated with terrorism” were planning to mount “unspecified attack” on the hotels.
Our correspondent who visited Four Points By Sheraton, on Monday observed that a team of soldiers attached to OP MESA were stationed at the entrance of Simeon Akilonu Crescent, which is some 150 metres away from the hotel.
Also, policemen from the Maroko Division of the Lagos State Police Command were seen strategically positioned on Prince Alaba Oniru Road, where the major entrance into the hotel is located.
Apart from conducting searches on visitors and their luggage, internal security officers of the hotel, armed with walkie-talkies, manned the facility’s two adjoining perimeter fences and conducting surveillance.
When our correspondent attempted to sit with one of the vendors in front of the hotel, two of them yelled at him, saying they had been warned against allowing strangers to loiter around.
“The soldiers asked us not to allow anybody to come around here to sit. If you want to buy anything, do so and leave immediately. And if you insist on staying back, I will call in one of the soldiers before you implicate us,” a recharge card seller said.
A female vendor operating in front of the hotel, who craved anonymity, explained that the presence of the soldiers around the area was unusual.
One of the hotel’s security men, in a chat with our correspondent, said the heightened security was more of a precautionary measure, but added that at no time had the hotel been lax in the area of security.
Although soldiers were not sighted in or around Sheraton Hotel located on Mobolaji Bank Anthony Road, a heavy security presence was observed as policemen from various units, comprising men of the Explosive Ordinance Disposal and the Mobile Police Force, took positions in the hotel.
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