The Minister of Interior retired Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau said on Thursday in Abuja‎ when the Adjutant General of the California National Guard, U.S, Maj.-Gen. David Baldwin paid him a courtesy visit, that the Federal Government is considering the establishment of a National Guard, to address the issue of emerging security threats and emergencies in Nigeria.

What the National Guard is:

• The National Guard is a security outfit established to tackle national security threats and emergencies like it’s obtained in the U.S‎. ‎

How would it be established in Nigeria?

• A lot of consultations would be done with all stakeholders before any decision is taken in that regard.

The Minister went back several years ago‎, where the government had planned the establishment of a National Guard, but the idea did not come to fruition due to a number of challenges.

He also explained that the National Guard would help to fill the gap between the operations of the Military and the Nigerian Police in tackling security challenges and emergencies. ‎

He said that the military is becoming increasingly involved in dealing with some security threats in the country which is outside their constitutional mandate while the Police might be overstretched in dealing with‎ such issues.

He said Nigeria‎ will continue to collaborate with the International community, including sharing experiences with the U.S Army in the training of Nigeria’s security personnel.

Dambazau said the California National Guard will be involved in the training of Nigeria’s security agencies under the Ministry of Interior such as the Nigeria Immigration Service, Federal Fire Service, NSCDC and Prisons to deal with security challenges/emergencies. ‎

Baldwin said that the training is designed for two to three years to equip the security personnel with modern trend in security and emergency operations.

On the establishment of a National Guard in Nigeria, he said that it was up to the Nigerian government to decide the veracity and modalities for the establishment of any security outfit.

Omoleye Omoruyi

Omoleye Omoruyi… an apprentice web/game developer, novelist, sensitive to happenings in the world. Meet him @Lord_rickie on Twitter/Instagram