Dr Olusola Odumosu, the commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), has lauded Private Guard Companies (PGCs) for complying with licence renewals and the training of guards.
The commandant gave the commendation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday.
Odumosu said the PGCs were required to promptly renew licences to avoid their offices being sealed.
The FCT command, he said, focused on regulating the industry to enhance intelligence gathering and secure the capital.
He said that regular training and retraining of private guards had been ongoing in the command, being that the NSCDC had the statutory duty of regulating the operations of PGCs across the country.
He said that the turnout had remained impressive; however, there were still some defaulters who had refused to regularly renew their licences and train their guards.
The commandant said that the command would not relent in going after defaulters to ensure compliance and the smooth running of PGCs in the FCT.
“It is our mandate to train, monitor and regulate PGCs, so training them is sacrosanct and we do that quarterly.
“We do this in batches, making sure that all private security companies in the FCT are better trained and prepared to complement the efforts of security agencies,” Odumosu said.
Odumosu said that the guards were trained in intelligence gathering, self-defence, report writing and other security tactics.
“There is training designed for the guards, operational managers as well as the Chief Executive Officers.
“During the stakeholders’ meetings, we rub minds on the various challenges that are facing the industry and ways to solve some of the identified problems,” he said.
He, however, said that there were challenges bedevilling the command.
The challenges, he said, included shortages of operational vehicles/motorcycles and gadgets.
Odumosu emphasised that notwithstanding these shortfalls, the command had been able to effectively deliver on its mandate because there was no excuse for failure.
“We are appealing for more vehicles and motorcycles for patrols to enable us carry out more regular and effective surveillance of the city centre and its suburbs.
“That is not something we can run with the number of vehicles we have as Abuja is very big and in most cases, because these criminals understand this challenge they take advantage of our setbacks.
“They know that once we patrol a particular area at a particular hour, it is not likely that we will be back there almost immediately or in the next one hour because that same vehicle is used to monitor other areas.
“They are calculative because the same vehicle you are using to patrol the central area is the same one you will take to the airport area and probably the same one that will go to the Kuje area of the territory.
“There are places within these suburbs, where we have our critical infrastructure that are not motorable. So, we also need motorcycles to enable us to navigate all those unmotorable terrains,” he said.
He added that there was a need for the corps to have adequate two-way transmitters for radio messaging in areas with poor network during operations.
“There are some places or times they will go into the bushes in the course of surveying critical infrastructure and will need backup, but they cannot communicate,” Odumosu said.
He wished officers and men of his command a Happy Workers’ Day.
Odumosu applauded them for their dedication to ensuring adequate protection of lives, Critical National Infrastructure and Assets in the territory. (NAN)
