Insecurity: Interior minister storms NSCDC, Fire Service in unannounced audit

ABUJA: Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, on Thursday declared that Nigeria is stepping up efforts to confront its security challenges, saying excuses will not be tolerated from relevant agencies.

The minister spoke during an unscheduled assessment tour of the Federal Capital Territory FCT Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Federal Fire Service FFS station in Wuse Zone 3, Abuja.

Speaking during the visit, the minister said President Bola Tinubu had issued a clear directive to overhaul the operational posture of all agencies under the ministry, stressing that they must be positioned “in the right perspective for optimum and perfect delivery of service.”

According to him; “The president is putting all hands on deck to make sure that we have a safe Nigeria and of course, the issue of safety and security of a nation is a work in progress and of course, we are doing a lot and I think the NSCDC has a major role to play.”

At the NSCDC’s ongoing training ground project for the FCT Command, Tunji-Ojo said he was impressed with the corps’ attempts to strengthen capacity ahead of emerging security threats.

He emphasized that continuous training remained central to boosting effectiveness across paramilitary services.

“Paramilitary service is about constant and effective training and capacity building and the NSCDC has a major role to play. The FCT command seems to be up and doing and I am happy with the training centre and you can only give what you have”, he said.

The minister noted that the new facility for arms guard training demonstrated foresight, saying, “I am here to see their preparedness and if they are forward thinking and with what we have seen with the training facility they are building here to train the arms guard; it means they are forward thinking and are preparing for the future that will eventually come.”

He stressed that the ministry would continue investing in personnel development, insisting, “we must keep training, retraining and investing in training so that these gallant officers can continue to give their best to Nigeria.”

Tunji-Ojo also reaffirmed the Federal Government’s full backing for all paramilitary services, saying, “The president has given us all the support. So it is my responsibility as the minister under the leadership of Mr President to give all the support and that’s why I am here.”

Charging officers to uphold professionalism and respect for human rights, he said internal security depended heavily on their conduct.

“Security is life, we are relying on them and Mr President is trusting them to deliver on the issue of internal security and the protection of critical national assets. We believe that they will deliver on this and we all will be proud of Nigeria and be able to call this great country a home”, he stated.

He disclosed that the ministry would continue unannounced, on-the-spot inspections nationwide to assess real-time service delivery.

“We want to see things the way they are. To see the sort of service that Nigerians are getting cut across all our agencies basically, because like what I always say, a good service is not good enough for Nigerians but only best of services”, the minister said.

However, Tunji-Ojo expressed disappointment over the condition of the Federal Fire Service station in Wuse.

While he declined to disclose the specific concerns publicly, he was unequivocal about addressing them promptly.

“I have expressed my views on what things I am not too comfortable with and those issues, I will take them up with the FFS Controller General,.

“These are issues that must never happen again. The fire service is a rescue service agency and a rescue service agency is meant to be prepared for emergency at all times”, he stated.

He added that although he would not discuss the problems immediately, “they are issues that we will take up and make sure that those things are corrected and we do not have repetition of such issues.”