Kingsley Nwezeh
12 November 2009
Abuja — The House of Representatives yesterday called for the coordination of the activities of security agencies in the country as a way of ensuring efficiency and effectiveness. It also said that from all indications, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) was fit to carry arms.
Speaking during an oversight tour of the agency yesterday, Chairman of the House Committee on Interior, Honourable Jerry Manwe, said the lack of coordination of the security agencies was hampering efforts geared towards crime fighting and the challenge posed by incessant kidnap cases in the country.
He posited that since the agencies were working for the same government and nation, it was imperative that the organisations pooled resources together to work for the good of the nation.
Manwe, who led the committee members including Honourable Ndudi Elumelu, also harped on the need for the various National Assembly committees oversighting security agencies to also harmonise their actions for the same purpose.
"The major problem of security agencies is coordination. We are all working for the same nation and we have to ensure that the work of security agencies are coordinated. We will work with other relevant committees in the National Assembly to ensure that this task is achieved", he said.
On the delay in establishing an armed squad for the corps, he said men and officers had had to undergo training to be able to function properly with arms and noted that from the level of discipline exhibited by men and officers of the corps, the agency was fit to carry arms.
"They need to be trained to use arms. The level of discipline we have seen is so far is commendable so we believe they will use arms properly", he said assuring that the legislature would see that requests for funds from the agency would be given adequate attention in the 2010 budget.
Earlier, in his remarks, Commandant-General of the Corps, Dr Ade Abolurin, stated that in the area of capacity building six personnel of the agency were undergoing an intensive manpower development programme in Russia while six others just returned from a similar programme in Russia.
He listed as part of challenges confronting the agency to include absence of a standing armed squad to enhance the capacity of the corps at fighting crime, shortage of manpower, inadequate security materials/equipment such as security gadgets, fire fighting equipment, operational vehicles, trucks, cranes, speedboats and surveillance equipment.
Others facilities, according to him, include the absence of helicopters shortage of office/residential accommodation for staff among others and lack of synergy and collaboration among security agencies.
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