Why you shouldn’t let your kids play with firecrackers

Firecrackers or 'bangers', 'knockouts', banned by the Nigerian police

I’m grateful to God for the part of town I currently reside which is relatively quiet. Elsewhere in Lagos, as in most parts of Nigeria, December is usually a torment for lovers of peace and quiet.

Currently in most parts of Lagos, an infant or an elderly person cannot have sound sleep night or day due to incessant explosions of firecrackers or knock-outs and bangers as they are called in local parlance.

It was established years ago that this annual ritual had become a menace that needed to be stopped. Consequently, the police placed a ban on it years ago, but that has not stopped it.

If it was a menace years ago, it is even more so today when we run our lives on electricity generators and store fuel in our homes, and the country has nearly been hijacked by armed robbers and Boko Haram terrorists who explode real bombs and shoot real guns.

Security is in such a fragile state today that it is unwise to let your children run around throwing bangers.

A child playing with a banger in Isale Eko reportedly caused a warehouse containing explosives to go up in flames on Christmas day. Ten houses were razed; one person was killed, while about 40 others were injured.

This must underscore why you should let your kids amuse themselves with other things apart from a fire cracker, banger, knock-out or whatever else you call it during this festive period.