The Chairman, Association of Licensed Private Security Practitioners of Nigeria (ALPSPN), Lagos State chapter, Mr. Tunde Mumuni has identified lack of standardization as one of the major challenges facing the private security companies in Nigeria.
Speaking at a Private Security Governance Forum for South-West Zone organized by the African Law Foundation (Afri Law) in Lagos recently, Mumuni advocated for a situation where the standards were set across board to be followed by all private security companies.
“We need to find a way to standardize the race, the kitting for security guards but that is also given to us by our regulator; the Ministry of Interior and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps. We have a standard kit that is supposed to be given to every security guard”, he said.
While harping on the need to have standard baseline contract such that if one does meet the requirements, such a person won’t be allowed to take up a job in the private security company as doing that would mean to lower standards, he however, decried inadequate recognition from the government .
He said, “How do we promulgate laws for private security companies without their input? How do we talk about national security when in Lagos state, we are not on the seat of the Security Council? We should be on the seat of the security council of every state while the national body should represent us at the federal level. But what you see that is happening is that vigilantes are given preference, ethnic militias are given preference over the PSCs.”
The ALPSPN Chairman, who further identified unlicensed companies as another challenge in the sector, acknowledged that the Ministry of Interior and the sector regulator, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps had put in place requirements for setting up private security companies.
“These requirements are not met by some unlicensed people and what becomes the consequence of that? They take away jobs from the people who have gone through the rigours of meeting the requirements and who are acting according to the law. They take away income from that, they take away from the state in generating development levy and pay as you earn taxes, they take away income from the federal cooperatives, corporate taxes, VAT and we have been talking about International Code of Conducts. Those companies evade all those kinds of regulations and processes set in place.
“We are looking to our regulator to help us to continue because it is an ongoing process, continue to fish out the unlicensed companies”, he appealed.
He also observed that infiltration of foreign companies in the sector in Nigeria was another area of concern given that the Act provided that the company had to be a wholly owned Nigerian company. He however regretted that international companies were depriving local companies the opportunity of getting the big jobs as they were affiliated to some international companies that were doing business in this country and were loyal to their international headquarters abroad.
He continued, “How do you check that? They come and do feasibility studies, they raise analysis and all those analysis are transported to another country. Yes, they may have Nigerian Directors but what does the law say? The law does not permit it or allow these companies to operate within our country.
“Another thing is the clamour for private security to carry light weapon. It is something that we will support under strict regulation. The government security agencies, we have a police force of about three hundred thousand personnel as against about 200 million people. In a police force of three hundred thousand personnel, you have a sizeable chunk doing VIP protection job, joining management among others. Why don’t we look at licensing private security companies after being properly vetted, meeting some strict criteria and hand over those things through the private security companies?
”If ethnic militias have access to light weapons and people are falling inline, why can’t private security companies being licensed as our name indicates – Private Licensed Security Companies and allow the government security agencies to face their primary responsibility of protecting the citizenry and the sovereign state?
“But in everything that I have mentioned, we have an able national leader who is looking into the issue of standardization, adequate recognition, unlicensed companies, infiltration, carrying of light arms. This is something that is ongoing. We should key into the opportunity of the International Code of Conducts Association, if we want to go global or expand our reach, we need to identify with these global standards.”
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