The Police Command in Osun has deployed officers to provide security ahead of the grand finale of the Osun-Osogbo festival slated for Friday.
By Olajide Idowu
The Police Command in Osun has deployed officers to provide security ahead of the grand finale of the Osun-Osogbo festival slated for Friday.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Abiodun Ojelabi, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday.
Ojelabi said that the Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, during a meeting with the organisers of the event, assured them of adequate security to ensure a hitch-free celebration.
He also said that the Commissioner of Police had directed Area Commanders to deploy tactical teams for the grand finale of the festival.
“Tactical teams, mobile units and other units are all on standby for necessary deployment.
“Every security measure is in place, and by God’s grace, we are going to have a hitch-free festival this year,” he said.
NAN reports that the Osun-Osogbo festival, whose history dated back to many centuries, is usually celebrated in a grove on the outskirt of Osogbo between July and August.
It is among the last of the sacred forests adjoining the edges of most Yoruba cities before urbanisation.
In recognition of its global significance and cultural value, the Sacred Grove was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.
For indigenes of Osogbo, the festival symbolises traditional cleansing of the town and cultural re-union of the people with their ancestors and founders of Osogbo Kingdom. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)