African Law Foundation, AFRILAW, a Non-Governmental Organisation, has called for the engagement of private security in the fight against insecurity.
The founder and Chief Executive Officer of AFRILAW, Okereke Chinwike, made the call while engaging Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, and the media in an effort to reform operations of private security outfits in Nigeria to meet with international best practices.
Chinwike spoke at a two-day capacity-building workshop for CSOs and media on Tuesday in Abuja.
He noted that it was important to reorganize private security outfits in the country to ensure professionalism.
The AFRILAW founder spoke on the theme, “Private Security Governance Challenges and the Relevance of International Norms and Best Practices.”
“Today’s workshop is to train CSOs and media practitioners on how to use the document as a tool of engagement,” he said.
“The role of private security operatives in the face of current insecurity in the country cannot be undermined.”
Noting that the number of private security operatives in Nigeria was many, Chinwike said there was no effective regulation of their activities.
This, he said had “led to a number of misconducts and lack of synergy with government-owned security agencies.”
Chinwike also disclosed that an executive bill was underway to give legal backing to the activities of private security outfits, as well as regulate their activities to check excesses.
The AFRILAW boss lamented that there were few laws regulating the operations of private security outfits, adding that some of the laws were “obsolete and required review to capture emerging security challenges.”
