Lagos – No fewer than 500 security professionals and organisations are to converge on Lagos for the 2015 American Society of Industrial Security’s (ASIS) African Security Conference in Lagos.
Mr Ubong King, Chairman of the Lagos Chapter of ASIS, made the disclosure at a news conference on Friday in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that ASIS is a society of security practitioners in the industrial sector who have both hands-on and educational knowledge.
The regional conference, with the theme “Emerging Security Trends’’, will hold from Aug. 25 to Aug. 26 at the Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos.
King said: “The aim is to bring everybody to understand that security is not about just policing or militarising but more about understanding of industrial security.
“We will discuss both the known and the unknown, one of which is to focus on how the economic affect criminality.
“If you look at the global competiveness report, Nigeria is 127 out of 144 with a population of 195 million people and then having only 50 million people as the working class.
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“That means the dependency ratio is three to one; for anyone person who works, he or she has an aunty, a cousin or a sister that has to be fed.
“So, because of that the poverty level is high and if people have to eat and poverty level is high, it therefore stands to reason that criminality will increase.
“It is therefore, our responsibility as security practitioners to evaluate these trends and know how to deal with it’’.
He said the conference would create a platform for professionals in security, financial sector, oil and gas, information technology, politics and government representatives among others to share ideas and best practices.
“Participants will come from within Nigeria and beyond; at least 300 participants are expected to attend from Lagos alone.
“The benefit is that we at ASIS do not have only a practical hands-on knowledge but have an educational knowledge in security.
“We have seasoned speakers that will educate participants so that people can understand these security trends and concerns.
“Military personnel from the Army and Navy will also give briefs about how the metamorphosis of the trend has affected them,’’ he added.
He said added that the conference would among other things, enable security practitioners to evaluate current economics of the continent, especially Nigeria for solutions.
King said the conference would also showcase innovations in technology in areas as Counter Intelligence Equipment, Identification Systems, Explosive Weapons Detection, Electronic Intrusion Detector and Tracking Systems.
Others include Phone Jammers, Aviation Security, Armoured Vehicle Systems, Metal Detectors and Telecommunications equipment.
ASIS has more than 35,000 members worldwide and in Nigeria three chapters in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja.
King expressed support for the Buhari-led administration’s stance against corruption, adding that “those who fleeced other people could become desperate and look for ways to make money.
“As such everything crescendos into increased threat’’. (NAN)