By SULEIMAN SHEHU
IBADAN- The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Oyo State has urged 135 newly recruited officers in the command not to use their uniform to intimidate members of the public.
Michael Adaralewa, Commandant of the NSCDC in Oyo State gave the advice during the passing out parade for the 2019 recruit of NSCDC in Ibadan on Tuesday.
He said that the new recruits were recruited to defend the defenceless and not to intimidate or extort them.
Adarelewa advised them to try as much as possible to shun anything that would tarnish the image of the corps.
The commandant urged the newly recruited officers to be professional and discharge their duties effectively to the public and respect their fundamental human rights.
He said that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved recruitment into the Corps since 2019 and the process had been on and culminated in the recruitment of 5,000 officers nationwide after due diligence and transparency.
“The training and passing out ceremony of new recruits we are witnessing today is one of the transformation programmes of NSCDC Commandant General, Dr Ahmed Audi, to reposition and rejig NSCDC.
“The first phase of the new recruits commenced nationwide on Feb.5, 2022 and ended June 2022 , the training content was designed to build the capacity of recruits in the areas of discipline, intelligence gathering among others,” he said.
The Commandant said that the passing out parade was not an end to training for the recruits but rather the commencement of another phase.
He said that the recruits would immediately be deployed to various Area Command offices, divisions, departments and units to learn further on the job and thereafter, proceed to the corps’ various training colleges across the nation.
The commandant called on all stakeholders to maximise the potential of the newly trained officers as they carry out their duties and support NSCDC in the state in order to jointly tackle the insecurity in the state and Nigeria in general.
“We must all synergise to expand the operational capability of the officers and men by giving them credible information and provision of operational equipment to the command.
“We shall remain committed to working with other sister security agencies and security stakeholders to ensure the protection of lives and properties of the citizens of the state,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the highlight of the occasion was presentation of award to outstanding new recruits and display of tug of war among the recruits.
The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Customs, Department of State Services, Nigeria Immigration Service and Nigerian Correctional Service. (NAN)
