The Nation Newspaper

Tag: night clubs

  • How hotels, night clubs, others aid crime, by police chief

    The Police in Lagos have  warned operators of night clubs,  hotels and other hospitality outfits to henceforth put in place internal security measures  to check drug peddling and criminalities.

    Actin Police Commissioner Imohimi Edgal gave the warning at a meeting with stakeholders in the hospitality industry at the Command Headquarters in Ikeja.

    Edgal said intelligence report indicated that there was increase in drug abuse among youths and minors.

    The Police chief was quoted in a statement by the force’s image maker, Folarin Famous-Cole, that the act poses danger to the promotion of  government’s proposed night economy.

    He said there had been many initiatives and programmes geared towards ensuring a 24-hour economy in the state.

    Despite the successes recorded in recent time, there were grey areas which must be jointly tackled by both police and operators in line with his principle of community policing and security partnership, he said.

    Edgal said: “One of such areas is the issue of drug peddling and abuse. Intelligence report at my disposal reveals that there is increased drug abuse in most of our night clubs, lounges and beaches. Young men and women freely use narcotic substances at times in those areas to the knowledge of the operators but they are doing nothing about it. This is wrong. The scourge of drugs and its attendant effects aside dangerous to health is criminal activities. The ease with which our youths are getting access to drugs is worrisome and our meeting here today is to send a very strong signal to operators that it is not going to be business as usual.”

    The CP said it had also been observed that some hotels now give rooms to minors and also sell alcoholic drinks to them, while under-aged girls were also being allowed to use such establishments for prostitution.

    “In addition, we also have the issue of criminals hibernating and having save haven in all our beaches, hotels, clubs, lounges these days. The last intelligence report I received indicates that young men now move around these establishments armed. This is very dangerous for the security of the state. We have it on good authority that some of these establishments are used as meeting points to plan crimes before,” Edgal said.

    He said police have the capacity to arrest any operator found aiding criminal activities, but the will continue to engage the stakeholders in line with the principle of community policing and security partnership to tackle the menace frontally.

    Going forward, the CP said it was compulsory for operators to now install basic security gadgets such as Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras and metal box detectors, among others to cover their establishments.

    The CP also set up a 10-man Committee headed by the Managing Director of Farm City Lounge in Lekki, Mr Lanre Carew to come up with a comprehensive blueprint on how to strengthen security in the hospitality industry, especially how to put a stop to drug peddling and armed bandits.

    The committee has two weeks to submit its report.

  • Night clubs take supremacy battle to Ibadan

    A new breed of pioneer entrepreneurs in the entertainment industry are moving from Lagos to other parts of the country to bring entertainment and enjoyment to those places. One city that is benefitting from the new trend is the ancient city of Ibadan which is now home to several hot spots where people can have a good time.

    As Lagos, the entertainment capital of Nigeria, becomes saturated, night club owners are looking towards Ibadan as the next frontier to conquer. Time was when the city was quiet and sleepy. Now, it is one show or the other and nightclubs have moved to cash in on the phenomenon.

    Along the popular MKO Abiola Way, the likes of Clique 69 and Apollo’s Lounge are offering customers the best night life experience. Elsewhere, the likes of Platinum Nite Club, Option 24/7, GQ Lounge and 411 Night Club are in a tug of war to entice customers with their attractive offerings.

  • OF NIGHT CLUBS, BOUNCERS AND HAUGHTY CELEBS

    PROMPTED by the recent brawl involving singer Oritsefemi and security guys at the popular Quilox Night Club last weekend, I imagine the calling of the muscular-built guys called bouncers, and how they are often caught between the devil and the red blue sea; a funny case of a pay master who calls the tune, and on the other hand, some arrogant, youthful exuberant, lavish celebrity spenders with the tendency to break the rules.

    If the Yoruba proverb that says an emissary should dread the sender and not the receiver of a threat message is anything to go by, perhaps the inventor of the maxim had no fore knowledge of rebels who dare kings. In fact, the Yoruba history has the story of Efunsetan Aniwura, a very powerful Ibadan women leader who became a terror and when ordered by the king to leave town, made the emissaries captives for failing to decline the king’s order.

    While it may be correct to say that fights occur in most night clubs, Quilox has recorded perhaps a highest number of such incidents from celebrities whose arrogance, mixed with intoxication is often vented on the bouncers take orders from the club owners. And I think that the management of the Club, for whatever flexibility, has a hand in the fault, because if the rules were clear, there would be fewer incidences.

    In the Oritsefemi vs Quilox saga, everyone had told their side of the story and it is evident either one party or both have lied in order to come out clean. But they are both dirty – just like the pig and its fighter. While Oritse femi’s account was so disjointed, the official statement from Quilox was too smooth to be true.

    Oritsefemi said: “…When I realised he wanted to blow me, I was holding a glass cup with little drink inside. My right hand mistaking hits one of his eye as self defense. Blood started rushing out… They beat me black and blue until I fainted. They stripped me naked inside the club premises. One of the bouncers stole my neck lace jewelry worth 8.5 million naira on the spot. They dragged me on the floor for almost one hour before the Police came to rescue me.”

    Quilox said: “Oritsefemi who was drinking from the patron’s bottle, attempted to seat eight of his guests at the table, the surprised patron strongly rejected such effrontery and invited the bouncer guarding the floor to intervene… the bouncer politely approached Oritsefemi and told him the patron’s guests were still being expected, but Oritsefemi, in a fit of unprovoked rage, slapped the bouncer, then proceeded to breaking a glass in his hand and stabbing him in the eye…”

    From Quilox to Rehab, Nu Grotto and several other night clubs in Lagos, the unfortunate happens:  At Quilox, Wizkid had a brawl with Dammy Krane in which the former hit the latter with a bottle in the head. M.I also had something ugly to say about the bouncers at the club. Davido was reportedly embarrassed out of the club after spending N19 million on drinks with his friends (I cringed at the figure).

    At Rehab Night Club, rapper Ikechukwu had a fight with a bouncer when they wouldn’t let him through the gates. The bouncer he fought with bled through the nose. People say he has a ‘black belt’. He apologised in the end. They always do in their sober moments; Oritse femi too, after all said and done, described his act as ‘unruly’.

    Of course, we also heard the story of how Davido’s bouncer once beat up a DJ and a bouncer at Nu Grotto, destroying some properties of the club in the process.

    Truth is, if Nigeria were a gun-carrying country, it is imaginable how bad the situations at night clubs would turn. Hip hop singers try to outdo club security men. The artistes themselves lift ‘irons’ to build muscles and employ giant body guards who look down at club bouncers (of course they are better paid). In all, the management of the club must decide whether to allow the celebrities have a field day for spending their millions, or adhere to stringent rules that may not bring all the money but could ensure sanity, class and dignity.

    There are men of honour out there who want to enjoy a cool nightlife. Thus, when my editor asked if any of the clubs around has got the standard of the now rested Niteshift Coliseum, it got me really thinking. Do they?

  • Lagos issues safety guidelines to night clubs, bars

    The Lagos State Government has issued fresh safety guidelines, which include conspicuous display of entry and exit signs, occupancy limits and fire and safety plaques to night clubs and bar operators operating in the state.

    Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr. Wale Ahmed, made this known yesterday while addressing a press conference as part of a safety sensitisation campaign for owners of event centres, night clubs, bars, hotels and leisure places.

    The event was organised at the auspices of the Lagos State Safety Commission (LSSC).

    Ahmed said, “As part of its commitment to the safety of lives of residents, operators of these places must ensure adequate access and exit routes, traffic and crowd control flow, adequate provision of toilets and hand washing facilities and well-lit and sufficient directional signage.”

    He added that the commission decided to commence the campaign at this period in anticipation of the “ember months” activities, especially partying, thus urging all operators to consider and practice safety measures such as an efficient management of electrical/generator hazards, fire prevention, accessible first aid kit, safe food service and adequate waste collection and good house keeping.

    Ahmed said an inspection team would soon begin an inspection tour of all facilities located around the three senatorial districts in the state, warning that any operator found flouting the guidelines would be prosecuted.

    The commissioner, who disclosed that the exercise is being carried out in conjunction with the Ministries of Tourism and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Physical Planning, Health and Home Affairs (Fire Service), said henceforth, no approval will be granted to new facilities except it conforms with the state’s safety regulations.

    Ahmed, who described the move as a continuation of the Commission’s determination to spread safety consciousness among residents, added that strict compliance with these guidelines would better position operators for higher profitability.

    Earlier, the LSSC’s Director General, Mrs. Dominga Odebunmi, said the awareness drive followed on the trail of series of sensitisation carried out in the three senatorial districts with stakeholders early this year.

    She said that much as the commission appreciates the importance of entertainments, safety of people cannot be over emphasised.