Nigerian police prepares special escorts for U-17 World Cup

LAGOS, Oct. 22 (Xinhua/GNA) -- Nigerian Police said on Wednesday that it would create special units to escort the participating teams in the Under-17 FIFA World Cup beginning on Saturday.

The participating teams include Nigeria, Germany, Honduras, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland, Iran, Gambia, Colombia, the Netherlands, Turkey, Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, New Zealand, United Arab Emirate, Malawi, Spain, United States, Uruguay, South Korea, Algeria and Italy.

"The Nigeria Police has created special units to escort each of the participating teams from the airports to their hotels and to the pitches," Emmanuel Ojukwu, police spokesman, told reporters in Abuja.

According to him, armed anti-riot and intelligence operatives have adequately covered all hotels hosting the teams.

"Our elite anti-terrorism squads are placed on red alert to work hand in hand with other agencies and Units," Ojukwu said.

He said the zonal and state commands were briefed and instructed to ensure effective supervision of the squads and units.

According to him, the police are collaborating with their sister security agencies in all affected hosting cities to ensure security of foreigners from arrival points to their various destinations.

He appealed to football fans and spectators to demonstrate decency and decorum in their conduct, before, during and after the competition.

The hosting cities are Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Abuja, Enugu, Calabar, Ijebu Ode and Lagos.

GNA