The Federal Government, on Thursday, called on security agencies in the country to work in synergy towards ensuring that school children and farmers are protected from banditry attacks and abductions.
Minister of Interior, Ọgbẹni Rauf Arẹgbẹsọla, made the call, while also warning the four paramilitary agencies under him on discrimination against female officers.
He spoke during the launch of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) gender policy at the Corps headquarters in Abuja.
Arẹgbẹsọla said: “Our nation has faced security challenges in recent time. There has been a long-standing insurgency in the North East, banditry in the North-West and North-Central, farmers-herders clashes all over, kidnapping for ransom, armed robbery and sundry criminal activities all over.
“These challenges have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Nigerian security agencies have risen strongly to face them and I am in no doubt that they will soon become a thing of the past.
“All hands therefore must be on deck. All our human resources, including women, must be maximally deployed to face this task. I am particular about the protection of school children and farmers. The threats to them represent the threats to our present and future. Without food, we cannot survive.
“Hunger would kill everybody. Children are the future. If they are damaged in any way, it’s the future of the nation that is damaged. They therefore deserve to be protected, to enjoy their childhood, to have peace of mind to study and to grow up with confidence to face a glorious future,” he said.
The Minister urged the Commandant-General of NSCDC, Ahmed Abubakar Audi, to facilitate gender inclusiveness within the Corps so as to give women equal opportunity and to enable them to actualise their potentials.
The minister maintained that women should not be discriminated against as they are better suited to special assignments than their men counterparts and that by excluding them from the military duties the country has lost the natural advantage given to the nation by God.
“There is no basis to discriminate against women. They should be given an equal opportunity so that they can greater height,” Aregbesola said.
The Minister stressed the need to engage women more in security operations so that the country could come out of the series of security challenges bedevilling the country.
He urged the CG to further enhance the capacity of the Agro Rangers by training and re-training so as to put an end to the incessant farmers/herders clashes in the country, as this will go a long way in facilitating food security in Nigeria.
“Food security is the most important security, there can be no security in the land if there is hunger in the country, therefore, the Agro Rangers should be well equipped to facilitate food security in the country,” Aregbesola said.
He urged the Corps’ personnel to shun corruption and keep the flag flying, while also calling on Nigerians not to lower their guards in keeping to the COVID-19 protocols.
In his own remarks, the Corps CG said the NSCDC gender policy was anchored on the outcome of a gender assessment exercise exercise conducted in three formal security institutions in 2019 which included the NSCDC, by Partners West Africa Nigeria, PWAN, in partnership with the UN Women and other partners.
Audi maintained that it was the need to address the inequality in the Corps that gave birth to the NSCDC gender policy with the main objective to: Promote development of guidelines and the enforcement of standards against sexual and gender based violence and gender-insensitive language and actions within the NSCDC and towards the public.
He said the policy would address gender-based barriers and provide guidelines on the implementation of remedial measures to correct existing inequalities in the career progression of female officers within the NSCDC.
He added that this would promote equitable access to both female and male officers to rise to management rank and participate in policy formulation and decision making.
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