A total of 87 men and officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have been dismissed for various offences considered as gross misconduct.
The dismissal, which was announced in a restricted document dated October 4, 2021, with reference number: NSCDC/NHQ/ 004/ Vol.⅛ and exclusively obtained by LEADERSHIP Sunday, was part of the outcome of plenary meetings held at various panels chaired by the present and immediate past ministers of interior, and the commandant general, Ahmed Abubakar Audi.
The restricted document with the tittle, “List of dismissed officers from 2013-2021”, signed by the acting deputy commandant general (Administration), Zakari Ibrahim Ningi, on behalf of the commandant general, was addressed to directorates, zonal commanders, state commandants, and provosts of civil defence colleges/academy, to mention only few.
LEADERSHIP Sunday also gathered that aside the dismissal, the Civil Defence, Corrections, Immigration and Fire Service Board (CDCIFB) headed by the minister of interior, Rauf Aregbesola, and the CG’s of all the paramilitary agencies under the ministry’s supervision, has also approved the demotion of a number of officers of the Corps over different cases of misconduct.
The dismissed personnel comprises deputy commandants, assistant commandants, DCICs, AICs, CCAs, SICs, PICs, Disc’s, ACCs and CSCs, amongst others.
The affected officers were said to be serving in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Lagos, Bayelsa, Kwara, Borno , Oyo, Edo, Delta, Benue, Imo, Kaduna, Plateau, Niger, Abia, Katsina, Zamfara, Gombe, Ondo , Kogi, Kano Ogun and the national headquarters to mention just a few.
Against the backdrop of the misconduct which the restricted documents termed as image denting, personnel of the Corps has been warned against sabotage under any guise.
The document read thus, “It has come to the notice of the commandant-general, that some dismissed personnel of the Corps are still parading themselves as and impersonating as officers and men at the various state commands and formations.
“This ugly trend, to say the least, is not only disturbing but also an embarrassment to the Corps, especially in situations that some of those dismissed personnel are in the custody of sister security agencies, thus, tarnishing the image of the Corps.
“This reckless act must be checked forthwith. Consequently, I am directed to convey Management’s displeasure in seeing this compromising trend persist.
“You are further directed to meticulously go through the attached list of dismissed officers.”
Meanwhile, a top source at the CDCIFB, who spoke to LEADERSHIP Sunday on anonymity explained that, ” The board took severe actions against the wanting officers as punishment for causing the service and their mother agency a lot of embarrassment.
He described the actions, which led to their dismissal, as scandalous and unbecoming of security officers, insisting that their actions were liable to dismissal from service.
A top officer at the CG’s office who does not want his name in print said that the safety and well-being of Nigerians depended considerably on the willingness and readiness of members of the security family to defend the nation against threats to national security.
According to him, to maintain the Corps in a state of readiness, officers and men must be ready to enforce internal discipline effectively, in accordance with extant laws.
Further investigation by LEADERSHIP Sunday further revealed that luck ran out of some of the dismissed officers, especially those guarding critical infrastructure of government, as most of them were intercepted at various security checkpoints where soldiers/ police on duty insisted on verifying the contents of the patrol trucks, and they were found wanting.
LEADERSHIP Sunday gathered that most of them were dismissed for actions prejudicial to the security of the state: sabotage; dishonesty and acts unbecoming of a public officer.
It was further revealed that in most cases, some of the affected officers raised fake letters purportedly to escort vehicles and suspects to police stations with dubious intention of ensuring their unlawful release.
Other dismissed officers were found guilty of disobedience to lawful order,discreditable and scandalous conduct, and unlawful use of authority.
As of the time of filing this report, all messages and calls put through to the service spokesperson, Mr Sola, were neither replied nor responded to.
