The Nigeria Security and Civil
Defence Corps (NSCDC), Lagos State Command yesterday embarked on a one-day training
programme for its officers and stake holders. The idea is to train and
sensitise them on the Corps Code of Conduct for the forthcoming February
election.
The State NSCDC Commandant, Mr. Gabriel
Abafi, during his opening speech, said: “The NSCDC is mandated to carry out a
general security duty position in national assignments, such as general
elections. Thus, the Corps shall deploy various techniques in order to ensure
effective monitoring during the election.”
The Commandant further said that
part of the conduct of the NSCDC officials, was that they should not identify
with any political party or members.
“Our men are also not supposed to
handle any electoral materials. They are to ensure that electoral materials are
escorted to only authorised or designated centers. And must not be involved in
collation of votes,” said Abafi.
According to Abafi, in order to
achieve these objectives, every member of the Corps would be given a tag and a
secret sign, which would be used to identify NSCDC personnel. He noted that
anybody could impersonate NSCDC officer, but the secret sign, known only to
genuine officers, would give impersonators away.
He added: “Uniform is just a
material sewn and worn by anybody.”
The Chairman, School of Management
and Security (CFE), who is also President of Association of Industrial Security
and Safety Operators of Nigeria (PAISSN), Dr. Ona Ekhomu commended the
initiative of the NSCDC in coming up with such an event.
Ekhomu, who is the chairman of the occasion,
said: “For an election to be credible, it has to be free and fair. Nigeria plays
a very important role in the world and the freedom and signage of the election
will send a signal to the world that we are indeed responsible people.”
He urged the Corps to play a very
vital role at a crucial time like this in Nigeria in order to help the country
achieve its objectives, in term of communication and discharge of duties
before, during and after the elections.
The Lagos State Federal Road Safety Marshal
(FRSC), represented by his deputy, Mr. G.K Hamzat, while making his remark,
said: “Uniform agencies shouldn’t be found discussing any political issues
during the election. They should not underrate any personnel in uniform, be it
Boys’ Scout or others. This is because the underrated agency may be of vital
use in giving necessary information.”
Mr. John Ema, the Deputy Director of
National Orientation Agency (NOA), the guest lecturer, said: “The election
process doesn’t lie in the hands of the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) agency alone, but on all the necessary security agents! This is because
the security agents, in order to help our country, must do everything to ensure,
not just a violence free election, but also a free and fair one.”
Ema said that the security agencies
should ensure election process was done without any sense of creating riot or
trouble. They should also ensure political campaigns were done with no
sentiment and ensure proper conducts in all manners that would not destroy
public trust in them.
He urged the media to give a balance
report, avoid being used as a tool for propaganda and make sure that detailed
and accurate report about events before, during and after the election were recorded.
A representative from INEC, Mr.
Alozie Alphosus, on his part, said that the election process had commenced
since 2014, adding that it was why different strategies had been implemented
like the Permanent Voters’ Card (PVC) which enabled every citizens to vote,
creating polling units for voters, so that people will not vote in different
location at a time. “With all these, we hope security agencies will
ensure that people do not vote in different locations!”
No comments:
Post a Comment