The State Security Services (SSS) has warned Nigerians against public display of affluence, saying it is a great security risk.

The secret police said uncontrolled exhibition of flamboyant lifestyle and deliberate show of affluence has the potency of attracting kidnappers, bandits and other criminals.

“People must adopt moderate lifestyles, so as not to fall prey to these criminal elements,” SSS deputy director Paul Oduh said on Friday in Ilorin.

He said this in a paper presentation, entitled: “Security tips for health practitioners in Kwara”, at a symposium organised by the state branch of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA).

The warning came a week after a show-stopping burial ceremony of the mother of billionaire Obi Iyiegbu popularly known as Obi Cubana.

The burial generated a lot of commentaries online due to the lavish display of money, with some condemning the cynosure while others held that Obi Cubana and his ilks were metaphors of what could have been in the Nigerian state.

The SSS deputy director pointed out that these were not the best of times to show off in the country, especially when considering current security challenges.

Mr Oduh also observed that boastful attitude and maintaining a habitual daily routine can also make someone prone to avoidable attacks.

He explained that keeping negative habitual routines, such as keeping late nights all the time, and driving on a particular route every time can also put individuals under observation by all manner of attackers.

“The country is ravaged by insecurity on a daily basis. However, people should not despair, security should be the concern of all people and they must be enlightened on it,” he said.

Mr Oduh described security tips as protection tips, given to protect and secure lives and property.

“Security can never be 100 per cent everywhere in the world. People should be knowledgeable enough on those things they can do to protect themselves.

“Security denotes freedom from danger and protection of lives and property where individuals can pursue their lawful activities.

“There is a need to accept that threats exist and people are targets of these threats. This is why people should put in place measures to safeguard themselves from such threats,” he said.

The SSS director listed types of threats to individuals, families and the country to include assassination, terrorism, insurgency, kidnapping, ritual killing, cultism, robbery and arson.

Mr Oduh therefore advised people to secure their homes and properties with physical security measures like burglary proofs, protective security gadgets, security lights and perimeter fencing, among others.

He also advised that people should be alert on happenings around them, especially strange individuals loitering around an area, adding that these criminal elements may be surveying the environment for attack without anybody knowing.

(NAN)