Over 500 personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), who will form the nucleus of the Civil Defence Armed Squad, are presently being subjected to three months of intensive training in arms and weapons handling at the Prisons Armed Squad College in Owerri, Imo State.
The commandant-general of the corps, Prof. Ade Abolurin, who disclosed this while playing host to the minister of interior yesterday in Abuja, said the training was pertinent to the presidential approval, granted the corps, permitting it to implement the provisions of its amended Act 2007, empowering it to bear arms.
The corps’ boss explained that an additional 200 senior officers and 400 junior officers, who include drivers and orderlies, have since commenced light arms (pistols) handling training at the Prisons Staff College and Training School, Kaduna.
Describing the move as a practical step aimed at enhancing the organisation’s efficiency in view of the recent security challenges, Prof. Abolurin disclosed that the first batch of trainees would pass out on Friday August 5, 2011.
The Civil Defence boss, who expressed appreciation to Nigerians for the encouragement and recognition accorded the corps, however identified inadequate funding, security gadgets and manpower as a major factor hindering their rising to the security challenge the country is faced with, in line with its assigned mandates.
On the issue of staff verification exercise, he told the minister that his organisation was eagerly awaiting the result for proper placement and would view its release as a reward for their services to their fatherland.
He was optimistic that these problems would soon be a thing of the past, given the energy and zeal the minister had brought to bear in the discharge of his duties.