Barely 24 Hours after sponsoring bill to revoke NSCDC and merge its personnel with the police, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has withdrawn all officers attached to the lawmaker representing lseyin/ltesiwaju/ Kajola/lwajowa Federal Constituency in Oyo State at the House of Representatives, Shina Peller.
The directive, which was contained in a letter dated February 02, 2021, and addressed to the lawmaker, reads:
“Following the directive of the Commandant-General on the necessity of the deployment of the Command personnel for an urgent National Security Assignment.
“On behalf of the State Commandant, I hereby withdraw the personnel attached to you, this is to meet up with the urgent National need.”
It would be recalled that Peller had, in the bill which passed first reading on Tuesday, proposed merging NSCDC with the Nigeria Police Force.
However, in a swift reaction, the NSCDC Commandant-General, Dr. Ahmed Abubakar Audi reversed the withdrawal of the security details attached to the lawmaker in a statement issued and signed by NSCDC’s spokesperson, Odumosu Olusola on Wednesday evening.
The statement, which was titled, ‘CG Frowns at withdrawal of Officials Assigned to Member of the House of Representatives’, reads:
“The leadership of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps has dismissed as unauthorised and without recourse to the Corps constituted authority, a letter signed and sent to a Member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Shina Peller, informing him of the withdrawal of officials of the NSCDC assigned to him.
“Not only did the officer in question lack the power to do such, he was also found to have acted on his whims without clearance.
“The Commandant General, Dr. Ahmed Abubakar Audi, has therefore directed a reinstatement of the withdrawn officers with a compliment of necessary courtesies to the Honourable Member.”