Fewer police personnel and other security agencies provided security for the 300 athletes that participated in the 2021 edition of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon (ABLCM) 2021 held on Saturday in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the organisers had to reduce the numbers of participants to 300 from 10,000 in compliance with ABLCM 2021 COVID-19 measures.
Correspondents of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) who covered the event from the start point observed than less than 50 vehicles belonging to the various security agencies were deployed for the race.
NAN also reports that the event was peaceful as only few crowd came to watch and cheer up the elite athletes.
Although the security personnel were heavily armed but were nothing compared with previous marathon races which had about 300,000 participants and several hundreds of security personnel providing security.
A policeman who spoke with NAN said security personnel had been stationed close to the start point on Friday night.
“We have been here with other security agents since yesterday till midnight when the organisers started setting up in preparation for the marathon.” he said.
NAN also observed that as at 6: 00 a.m. on Saturday, no less than eight police patrol vans, five Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps patrol vans, four LASTMA patrol vans, and four patrol vans belonging to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps had been parked at strategic points along the route designated for the race.
Also, two patrol vans belonging to OP MESA, and RRS patrol vans were parked close to the National Stadium gate with the Federal Road Safety Corps personnel stationed along the route to ensure a hitch-free race by the athletes.
At 7:02 a.m, an Assistant Commissioner of Police who refused to be named also told NAN that the police have been on patrol since the marathon began to ensure safety of participants.
Also, some private security agents, told NAN that only a limited number of their personnel was deployed for the race this year compared to the previous years.
NAN also reports that the marathon kicked off at 6:30 a.m. and participants were accompanied by some ambulances, LASEMA Response Unit vans and traffic officers.
As at the time of filing this report, there had been no report of any arrest by the security agencies for impersonation of any athletes during the race.
