FG Condemns Attack On Benin Zoo

  

   The Federal Government has condemned the attack on the Ogba Zoo and Nature Park in Benin, the Edo State capital.Gunmen had stormed the zoo on Sunday evening, killing three policemen, abducting the Head of the Zoo, Andy Ehanire, and leaving many shocked over the attack.

    ”The killing of the three policemen attached to the zoo to provide security for fun seekers, the abduction of the zoo boss and the trauma suffered by the visitors who witnessed the attack are saddening, condemnable and most unfortunate,” the Minister of Culture, Lai Mohammed, was said. The Minister added that the attack dealt a blow to the country’s tourism sector.

   ”The success or failure of a tourism destination depends largely on a safe and secure environment,” he was quoted as saying in a statement by his Special Adviser, Mr Segun Adeyemi. “Incidences such as the attack on the Ogba Zoo and Nature Park, therefore, negate the concept of tourism as well as government’s determination to develop our tourism industry as a tool for socio-economic development.”

   

   In view of that attack, the Federal Government plans to “step up security in all the tourist sites across the country in particular in order to prevent a recurrence”. Mr Mohammed called on the abductors of the Zoo head to release him unharmed. He also sent his condolences to the families of the policemen who were killed in the attack, and prayed that God will grant repose to their
souls.

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