The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has given a two-week ultimatum to Private Guard Companies (PGCs) in the country to conclude work on the biometric data of their personnel.
NSCDCs officer in-charge of PGCs, Stella Oladoye, gave the ultimatum at the weekend during a workshop on Public Crime Alert System Management (PCASM).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop was organised for the Association of Licensed Private Security Practitioners of Nigeria (ALPSPN).
Oladoye said the Federal Government through the Ministry of Interior had ordered the biometric capturing of all private guards in the country.
She said the biometric data was necessary as the Federal Government recognises the PGCs and their personnel as part of the security architecture in the country.
The Federal Government plans to have the data of all guards so that the identity of the guards would be known and be given further assignment apart the one they are currently doing.
If the Federal Government had known and had the biometric data of guards in Nigeria before, they would have been integrated in this election assignment.
But for now, they cannot because we cannot use the people whose biometrics are unknown.
So, for future assignments, this issue of biometrics becomes a thing of urgency and the Ministry of Interior has been on the neck of NSCDC to get the data in order.
You are given two weeks grace to complete the biometrics of your guards before we start enforcement, Oladoye said.
She said guards without Personnel Service Identity Number (PSID) given after taking their biometrics would be arrested and the company sanctioned.
Oyo State Commandant of NSCDC, Mr John Adewoye, commended the PGCs for their cooperation and support.
Adewoye called for synergy between the corps and the companies.
Also speaking, ALPSPN Chairman in Oyo State, retired Col. Dayo Ogundipe, said security was a collective responsibility of all stakeholders.
Ogundipe assured the NSCDC of the cooperation of PGCs in the state.
