VIP Protection: FG Advised To Recall Gallant Civil Defence Retirees

The federal government has been advised to recall gallant and young retired personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to make the corps’ takeover of protecting Very Important Persons (VIPs) effective.

Mr Edwin Ugwuja, a retired Assistant Commandant General of NSCDC, stated this in an interview with THE WHISTLER in Enugu on Tuesday. He said NSCDC was suitable for the job of protecting VIPs because of their versatile trainings. He however said NSCDC currently lacks the numerical strength to police VIPs in Nigeria.

According to him, “I want to commend the efforts of our Commandant General, Prof Ahmed Audi, for his doggedness in carrying the operations of the NSCDC to an enviable position. He has put machinery in motion, especially in the protection of critical national infrastructure and training of private companies in Nigeria. The kind of warfare we are engaged in today is what we call asymmetric warfare where your enemies know you but you don’t know them. NSCDC has the courage and willingness to take care of the VIPs because I know the kind of training they have received. In all the paramilitary and security agencies, NSCDC is the only one that has an all-round training. They receive training from the military, the police, the DSS, National Intelligence Agency, Fire Service and Road Safety.

“But there is a lacuna. NSCDC needs to recruit more personnel. The corps can’t boast of 75,000 officers and men. I read that over 100, 000 police operatives were protecting VIPs. So if civil defence is to take charge of the protection of VIPs, NSCDC needs to recruit more. There is therefore the need for FG to approve at least 30, 000 personnel to be recruited just the way they approved for the police and the military.”

He therefore urged the Ministry of Interior to consider recalling some gallant retired personnel of the corps to fill the gap pending when commensurate recruitment would have been done to balance the deficiency.

In his words, “There are many retired, but yet very gallant officers and men. They should be given at least three years’ contract of service as a stop-gap for the recruitment and training of fresh personnel to take over the VIP protection.”

He recalled that “some personnel of the corps were in the past trained to protect VIPs, though they were never deployed”.

On the recent halt of retirement of military personnel by the FG, Ugwuja said, “The civil defence should toe that line. Let them stop retirement for about three years, especially among the junior cadre so that they will be used as part of the workforce for the protection of VIPs. You may be aware that the military recently stopped any form of disengagement, that is retirement from service, whether voluntary, age, or by rank of service.”

He however faulted the policy that such retired but still serving personnel would not be promoted. Ugwuja said, “I find it worrisome because promotion is a kind of incentive. If you don’t promote somebody, and you still retain him in the job, there is a tendency that the person will not do the job with uttermost commitment. It is better that they enjoy all due incentives because their lives are at stake.”