The recent decision by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to withdraw police personnel attached to personalities often described as Very Important Persons (VIP) on guard duties, has largely been applauded across the country by many discerning Nigerians.
Though it is not as if this is the first time such attempt has been made to withdraw policemen attached to VIPs as previous administrations had tried it through the office of the Inspector General of Police, yet such past efforts had died at birth as nobody took it serious.
The present attempt by Tinubu which is seriously gathering momentum, is obviously and unarguably precipitated by the pressure from American President, Donald Trump for Nigeria to address her insecurity situation or else America will come in. In the light of this, one can therefore give kudos to Trump for helping us to do the right thing.
Just this Wednesday at the Federal Executive Council (FEC), President Tinubu reiterated his earlier order to Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun, National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu and Minister of Police Affairs to ensure that the order was expeditiously executed.
Tinubu emphatically made it clear that police were not statutorily established to protect VIP as guards but generally for protection of lives and properties of the entire citizenry. He made it clear that the Nigeria Security & Civil Defense Corp (NSCDC) was best suited for such job and had therefore directed that civil defense corps should take over the job of VIP protection.
To many of us, this is a good move. However, I dare posit that given the existing number of NSCDC personnel across the country, there would be a very serious depletion in the number if about 12,000 personnel are redeployed to replace the same number of Police withdrawn from VIP protection. This would certainly overstretch the remaining number in manning the critical infrastructure and other related functions they were originally established to perform.
Though, it would not be out of place for government to recruit more personnel for the NSCDC, to beef up the total staff strength, yet it would also not be a bad idea to look in the direction of private guard companies.
From records at the headquarters of the NSCDC, Nigeria is currently having no fewer than 1000 licenced private guard companies. These are companies that have met the requirements as specified by the Private Guard Companies Act of 1986. The Act expressly states in Part 1(1) that “As from the commencement of this Act, no organisation shall perform the service of watching, guarding, patrolling or carrying of money for the purpose of providing protection against crime unless the organization concerned (a) is registered as a company under or pursuant to the Companies and Allied Matters Act (b) had applied for and has been granted a license by the Minister in accordance with the provisions of this Act and (c) is wholly owned by Nigerians in accordance with the schedule to the Nigerian Enterprises Promotion Act.”
It is safe therefore to say that by virtue of this enabling law, the manned guarding business in Nigeria has got official recognition that can lead to its increased professionalization in contemporary times.
As Nigeria battles insecurity in present time, it would not be out of place to make a review of parts of the law establishing private guard companies particularly in the areas of training and possible use of arms.
The extant law does not permit private guards to use firearms in the course of their business but the law to some extent, gives the companies right to engage in VIP protection. Hence a good number of the existing guard companies engage in VIP protection with the assistance of Police.
Given the current situation where the Police Force has been directed to pull out from VIP protection, I would suggest that as the NSCDC takes over the role and also being the supervisory agency in charge of all the private guard companies, there should be the upgrading of certain guard companies in terms of VIP protection.
Those guard companies with capacity to provide VIP protection services should be re-assessed with a view to training the operatives in weapons handling. The private guard companies staff on VIP protection should be sent to any of the firearms training schools to acquire the necessary knowledge in the use of firearms. Once they have successfully trained and certified by the appropriate authorities, they should be licensed accordingly.
With the total population of no fewer than 600,000 personnel employed by the Private Guard Companies in Nigeria currently, the country should have enough manpower that can be engaged in VIP protection, thereby decreasing the pressure that would soon mount on NSCDC.
Incidentally, some of the existing private guard companies are owned and managed by ex-service officers who are well versed in weapons handling and can make good input in the training of their guards in the use of firearms if the necessary approval is given.
The private guard companies in Nigeria have enough of young and women who would be interested in making life-long career in the profession if progression that would bring self fulfillment and actualisation is assured.
The private guard companies stand a chance of making huge income from VIP protection services and as such, be in a position to make the industry robust. This is a big opportunity for operators to make a case for themselves.
Time has come for our national leadership particularly Office of the National Security Adviser to think outside the box in terms of diversifying our approach to security related issues. We must not remain static and ‘colonial’ in our thinking.
If bandits, kidnappers , terrorists etc, bearing arms illegally can be terrorizing Nigerians with sophisticated weapons like AK47, why can’t we train our private security guards in the use of guns and license them accordingly so that they can add to our workforce? Their duties should not just be opening and closing of gates. Security has gone beyond that level.
