By Tola Gbadamosi
No fewer than 200 personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Ondo state Command were trained on effective security and professionalism for the February 25, 2023 general elections.
The State Commandant, Engr Olatundun Olayinka disclosed this at a workshop organised by the Corps and held at the held at the Command’s Headquarters multipurpose hall in Oda, Akure.
The theme of the workshop is: “Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement for Security Personnel on Election Duty”.
The NSCDC boss stated that with the new electoral laws of 2022 and the newly introduced innovations, officers must update their knowledge.
“This workshop is coming at the right time and it is geared towards preparing our officers and men for these forthcoming elections. We are aware, 2023 is a critical year in the history of Nigeria.
” We have carefully selected the various topics to be discussed and our resource persons will be doing justice to the topics in order to help in the protection activities of the Corps during this electioneering period.” He said
The NSCDC boss urged all participants to listen with rapt attention, ask questions and fully understand their roles during election duty.
The workshop which was organized to prepare officers and men towards a successful election duties was anchored by speakers from INEC and different security agencies.
The representative from INEC, Olokan Abiodun spoke on the principles and procedures of the conduct of election and expected roles of the security personnel: Electoral laws, rules and regulations as regards elections.
He said “We all have a common focus and goal which is successful, free, fair, peaceful and inclusive elections with an acceptable outcome. This is the least expected from us and l earnestly enjoin us to give all it takes to accomplish this feat.”
CSP Alade Omolayo from the Nigeria Police spoke on Inter-agency collaboration in providing basic security on election duties.
He posited on the need for collaboration, the benefits of inter agencies collaboration, challenges facing inter agencies collaboration and the solution among others.
Also speaking was the resource person from The Department of State Service (DSS), Babatunde Hamsat who spoke on Intelligence gathering before, during and after election.
From the Election Monitoring Unit of the Command, ACC Olagunju Adenle Olusegun took the participants through the code of conduct and rules of engagement for security personnel on election duties.
According to report, the training was in line with the Commandant General’s new year message where he charged personnel of the Corps to sustain the tempo of professionalism especially as the nation enters election year, reminding them of the need to remain acquainted with the new electoral laws and guidelines.
