Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior, Adams Oshiomhole, has called for a review of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Establishment Act, arguing that the term “civil” no longer reflects the realities of the security threats facing the agency.
Oshiomhole made the remarks on Friday at the National Defence College in Abuja during the launch of a book titled Nigeria’s Security Dilemma: Rivalries and Implications Vol. 1, authored by Olusola Odumosu.
He said NSCDC operatives are increasingly deployed against heavily armed criminals involved in activities such as illegal oil bunkering and infrastructure sabotage, yet are still legally defined as a “civil” corps.
“If the criminals you have to fight carry sophisticated weapons, your response should not be less than sophisticated,” he said, urging an update of the agency’s legal framework.
The senator also pushed for deeper cooperation among security agencies, stressing that intelligence sharing between the Department of State Services (DSS), the police and the military should be mandatory rather than optional.
He cited past operational experiences where coordinated intelligence-led raids resulted in the arrest of kidnappers, but lamented that some successful operations are later weakened at the prosecution stage due to bail or discharge decisions.
Oshiomhole further warned against inter-agency rivalry, insisting that national security must take precedence over institutional competition.
“On security, there is no PDP, no APC,” he said, calling for improved welfare, equipment and morale for frontline personnel.
At the event, the Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, represented by a naval officer, said efforts were ongoing to strengthen cooperation among security agencies, stressing that institutional unity was critical to national stability.
The author of the book also highlighted inter-agency rivalry as a major obstacle to effective security response, noting that no single agency can address Nigeria’s complex security challenges alone.
