Chairman, Senate Committee on Internal Security, Lekan Mustapha says the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps was created by an Act and could only be scrapped by the National Assembly.
Mustapha made the clarification on Tuesday while answering a question at the 2010 ministerial briefing by the Ministry of Interior.
Mustapha stressed that there was no need to scrap the Corps as, according to him, the public had rated the performance of NSCDC above 80 per cent.
He said the rating was an indication that the public was satisfied with the performance of the organisation.
Mustapha said the National Assembly would continue to support the ministry in terms of budgetary allocation to enable it to discharge its responsibilities.
Minister of Interior, Retired Captain Emmanuel Ihenacho had said adequate security reporting and intelligence gathering by the corps had assisted government in checking criminal activities across the nation.
Ihenacho said the corps, between January and September, arrested 395 illegal oil bunkerers and vandals of petroleum pipelines, PHCN and Telecommunication facilities as well as government infrastructure.
He said out of the number, 25 had been convicted adding that during the same period, the corps impounded 50 vehicles, six boats and 11 motorcycles used in the illegal activities.
Ihenacho said the organisation, through its services to the public during the period, generated above N63 million into government coffers.
On security, Ihenacho said the ministry had sought the approval of the presidency to create a well equipped Mobile Quick Reaction Force within the NSCDC, to counter kidnapping, terrorism and other threats to internal security.
The minister announced the extension of deadline for the Machine Readable Passport from December 31, 2010 to April 2011.
According to him, the ministry and its agencies would achieve more in the years ahead with adequate funding.
In a welcome address, Minister of State in the ministry, Humphrey Abah noted that internal security was a shared responsibility as it had direct implications on the socio-economic activities of the nation.
Abah, however, said the country had both human and material capacities to meet the security challenges being posed by the activities of some few criminals, to make Nigeria safe for all.
The Comptrollers-General of the Federal Fire Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Prison Service and the NSCDC attended the briefing.
No comments:
Post a Comment