A retired Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Desmond Agu, has warned the Federal Government not to merge the Corps with the Nigeria Police Force.
Agu said the merger would worsen the security challenges in the country. He, therefore, urged the Federal Government to shun any individual lobbying for such a merger.
The retired Commandant, added that those seeking the merger were ignorant of the roles of NSCDC as a special purpose security vehicle.
Agu described security challenges in the country as multifaceted. He, therefore, maintained that a coordinated multiple approaches were needed to confront them. He added that the NSCDC has filled a significant part of the void.
According to Agu, “NSCDC’s special roles of protecting and safeguarding critical national infrastructures and monitoring the activities of private security companies among others would be undermined by such a merger.
He, therefore, recalled that the Federal Government’s white paper on the Orosonya Report recognized the special roles of NSCDC.
Agu, therefore, called for strengthening the corps to enhance its performance as an independent entity instead of merging it with any other force.
“We must kill the idea of merging the NSCDC with the Nigeria Police Force. Because doing so will worsen the security challenges in the country.
“NSCDC was created by the Constitution as a special vehicle to tackle unique and critical security challenges affecting mostly the national economy. The Corps is designed to protect critical security infrastructures such as oil pipelines, electrical installations among others.
“It is important to note that any attempt to merge NSCDC with the Police will blur these critical roles. And will slow down the ongoing recovery of the National economy. Those who are promoting this idea for whatever reason should jettison it. Because it will not do the country any good.
“Since its establishment, NSCDC has been professionally discharging its responsibilities, building public confidence in its activities. What the Corps needs is better financing to keep performing its critical roles and not this merger”.
source: Daily Post
