The Commandant General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Mr. Abdullahi Gana, has stated that more than 10,000 personnel have been trained on counter-terrorism with the aim of tackling insurgency in the country.
This is contained in a statement issued by DCC Emmanuel Okeh, CD Public Relations Officer NSCDC, made available to on Saturday in Abuja.
As stated by the statement, the personnel were trained on counter-terrorism in Israel, Pakistan, Italy and also with the Nigerian Army School of counter-terrorism and insurgency.
Gana made this assertion at the reception of the courtesy visit by the United Nations counter-terrorism committee led by Mr Weixiong Chen at NSCDC headquarters, Abuja.
The statement stated the CG of NSCDC enumerated the corps mandate, stressing the need for support and training in the area of protection of critical infrastructure and other national assets in the country.
They are in most cases readily available targets for both terrorists and vandals.
He stated at the moment, over 400 personnel are protecting the facilities of multinational oil companies in Nigeria, such as Shell, Agip, and Mobil among others.
The statement noted that the leader of the UN delegate, Mr Weixiong Chen, stated his team came to assist in training and to proffer solutions against insurgency.
Chen pointed out the following has to be in place for the fight against terrorism to be completed:
“The rule of the law must be present, therefore the issue of coordination and training among the various law enforcement agencies is paramount.
“They must have basic training on close protection; to enable the security operatives protect themselves and the populace in general.
“That Nigeria cannot fight terrorism in isolation, hence there must be involvement of other nations of the world, to assist ficially, trainings and providing equipment based on the need for the particular nation.”
Chen assured the Corps of UN-CTED support in training the personnel and to also give logistic support and advocated the tackling of terrorism through a holistic approach involving the three tiers of government.
Gana appealed to the UN delegate that the personnel still need more exposure on technological abilities to improve greatly in the fight against terrorism.