A security expert, Dr Segun Musa, has called on security authorities to commence background checks on recruits into the military, police and other security agencies to fish out criminals frustrating the fight against insecurity.
Musa, the Lagos State Deputy Commandant, Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN), made the call in an exclusive interview with journalists in Lagos.
He said that carelessness in recruitment exercises and lack of intelligence could slow down the fight against terrorists, bandits, kidnappers and armed robbers.
Musa, who noted that he had participated over the years in tackling insecurity in Lagos State, especially the clamping down on Badoo group, a cult group operating within the Ikorodu area of the state, said: “The major problem we have in Nigeria is that people mistakenly think that uniforms are what make security or the arms and ammunitions they carry. It is beyond that. Those are just secondary.
“It is not the ammunition that makes you a security agent. It is intelligence and that is what is lacking in the fight against insecurity in Nigeria.
“Most of the officers we are recruiting into different security outfits lack intelligence,” Musa said.
According to him, Nigeria is still lucky and at a stage where security can still be properly managed if bad elements in the military are shown the way out with huge investment in intelligence.
The expert urged the security authorities to change the strategy and use domestic security architecture while the military would be their backbone.
Musa said: “If the nation has grassroots security architecture rights and intelligence, insurgency would have been defeated.
“Part of our research also reveals that when we are recruiting, we don’t do thorough research beyond telling the applicants to go online, fill forms, and write exams and others, before fitness exercises are carried out.
“Due to this, armed robbers, assassins and kidnappers among other criminals bring their candidates. Only a few among the recruits are genuine.
“When we have all these elements in security because we don’t do enough background check, the end result is that there will be a lot of security challenges because many of these spies will always frustrate the work and protect the interest of their respective groups.
“Security is to be approached intelligently and quietly. If these flaws continue in recruitment, we will never get it right in security architecture. Who does the background check of those candidates that are cadets in schools?”
He said that bad elements who sneak into the military are the ones frustrating those who want to do a thorough job.
The expert said the infiltration of candidates of criminals into the security architectures had continued to demoralise genuine soldiers and police men and women.
Musa said that recruitment in the military and police should not be based on `man-know-man’ – an exercise which is rampant in civil service.
The expert also frowned at the lack of proper synergy among the security outfits, describing it as a big problem in the fight against terror in the country.
