Insecurity is stifling our operations —NATOP President

The President of National Association of Tour Operators in Nigeria (NATOP), Hajia Billy Abdul has lamented that insecurity of lives is stifling members’ operation calling on the Federal Government to enhance the operation of the security agencies in Nigeria for better performance of their charters.

Hajia  Abdul who made this clarion call last week in Abuja while holding the quarterly meeting of NATOP members, Abuja Zone said “Our business is in the throes of collapsing due to palpably feeling of insecurity by our clients and patrons. Our trade  – tour promotion can only thrive where there is peace, harmony, security of lives and assurance of modicum of security. Hence we are passionately appealing to the Federal Government not to leave any stone unturned at ensuring that peace and order reign in every part of the country.”

She revealed that ‘the frequencies of security breaches, the scale of killings, kidnapping and even cases of hoodlums attacking and killing law enforcement agents have  sent fears  down the spines and spirit of our customers who have refused to engage us for a tour and travels within Nigeria.”

Hajia Abdul said “We are at the receiving end of this unsafe situation. People are not ready to risk their lives in the name of tour and tourism. Almost all parts of the country is affected. We are finding it hard to make ends meet   while the tourism sites are suffering from lack of patronage.”

NATOP lamented “Our business networking has been hampered by the fear that the roads are not safe. We could no longer promote certain historical and wonderful sites to our clients who believe that the areas of location are not safe.Our trade is being threatened by insecurity, fear of kidnapping, death from being bombed.”

Hajia Abdul pointed out  “We acknowledged the gravity of breaches of security by many different clandestine groups. We also acknowledged the strident efforts of the Federal Government at ensuring that these groups are kept at bay. We, therefore, call on the Federal Government not to rest on its oars as the vitality of our  tour operation  is  circumstantial to a secure environment.”

She revealed “One of the imperative functions of a government is to provide an enabling environment for the people to conduct their trade. When an environment is crisis-free and less porous to chaos, war, violence and crimes, business will thrive and people will blossom in any of their endeavours. We thus earnestly call on the Federal Government to urgently enhance the security operation in Nigeria and save our business and the tourism sector from humongous loss.”