By John Ugo
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp has withdrawn its personnel attached to the member representing Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Kajola/Iwajowa Federal Constituency of Oyo State in the Federal House of Representatives, Hon. Shina Peller.
The action is coming barely 24 hours after the lawmaker proposed a bill urging the House repeal the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (Amendment) Act 2007.
The lawmaker had advocated the scrapping of the NSCDC and merging it with the police to avoid needless duplication of the duties and responsibilities of the police force.
However, in a seeming reaction to the bill which was presented to the House on Tuesday, the Oyo State Command of the NSCDC wrote a terse notice to the lawmaker to immediately withdraw the men on attachment to him.
The Head of Administration of the Command, DCC Sotiyo Igbalawole said that the men were withdrawn on the directive of the Commandant General of the NSCDC.
According to him, the men were withdrawn because of a pressing need to withdraw them for an urgent national security assignment.
He said, “Following the directive of the Commandant General on the necessity of the deployment of the command personnel for an urgent national security assignment, on behalf of the state command, I hereby withdraw all personnel attached to you. This is to meet up with the urgent national need.”
The bill titled Nigeria Security And Civil Defence Corps (Repeal and Transition) 2022, which passed through first reading on Tuesday, also seeks for an establishment of a transition management committee to superintend over the NSCDC.
The lawmaker is also proposing that the transition management committee develop regulations and implement procedures for the transfer of its assets and personnel to the Nigeria Police Force.
In the proposed bill, Peller argued that fragmentation of security resources across multiple competing agencies is counterproductive, and that the mandate of the NSCDC has expanded in such a way that it has now becomes a duplication of duties and responsibilities of the Nigeria Police Force.
According to him, this has led to avoidable conflicts.
Similarly, the lawmaker noted that every single function of the NSCDC can be done or is being done by the Nigeria Police Force, and that retaining it amounts to waste of scarce resources.
He pointed out that the annual budget of NSCDC is almost one hundred billion naira.
Peller explained that the development would not lead to loss of jobs as the assets and personnel of the NSCDC would be absorbed by the Nigeria Police.
