From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Following the spate of insecurity in the country, the Federal Government yesterday announced the approval of 29 new private guard operators.
Handing over the new licences to their owners in Abuja, Commandant General (CG) of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi, said the new operators were approved by the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola on behalf of the president.
In a statement, Director of Public Relations of the corps, Olusola Odumosu said that the CG charged
the new operators to use their new operational licences to contribute their quota to promoting internal security mechanisms of the nation.
Audi reiterated that tackling the menace of insecurity in Nigeria requires collective and collaborative effort of all government and private security agencies, including all Nigerian citizens. He said the new wave of crime by criminals, bandits, terrorists and insurgents is asymmetric in nature and therefore deserves serious confrontational approach.
He maintained that private guard practitioners must collaborate with the corps, especially in the area of credible intelligence gathering, noting that the nation was bleeding from insecurity at the moment.
The CG charged the new recipients to adhere strictly to the law guiding their operations, urging them to ensure prompt annual renewal of their licences in order to avoid being clamped down as a result of violation of extant rules by the CG’s special task force set up to supervise and monitor their operations and activities across board.