A law and justice-based non-governmental organisation, African Law Foundation, said it has trained no fewer than 30 personnel in private security companies in Abuja on human rights.
The organisation said that the foundation, in collaboration with other similar stakeholders, is centered on responsible private security practice.
The Chief Executive Officer of the organisation, Mr Chinwike Okeke, said that other partners in the training are Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), International Code of Conduct Association, MSS Global and Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance.
According to him, the private security outfits in the country ought to be re-positioned to meet international standards.
He explained that international ethics on private security always emphasised on responsible and professional conducts.
Okeke also added that the security companies were expected to be responsible in the area of respect for human rights, professional conduct, ethics and gender, devoid of sexual exploitation and abuses.
Being responsible is very critical in private security practice because it will enable the public to have more confidence in their services and that will attract more patronage.
If you are irresponsible in your services, people will not hire you and that will affect your business, so we want them to be professional in their conduct, he said.
He also said that the workshop was one in a series of more than 12 workshops, which is scheduled to run in the six geopolitical zones in the country between October and March 2023.
Furthermore, Okeke said that the organisation has made it a point of duty to focus on private security in the last three years because of heightened demand for security in the country.
The Head of Private Guard Companies Department in NSCDC, Mr Isiegbu Chukwudi said that the corps was collaborating with the organisation and other stakeholders in conducting the training because of their importance.
Chukwudi, who represented Ahmed Audi, NSDC Commandant General said that the corps was working on a career path for the companies.
According to him, the corps was working hard to reposition the industry to make it more organised and professional in their conduct.
He also said that the career path would enable guards to rise to the highest rank in their companies rather than remaining on a spot for the period of their stay in the company.
Chukwudi added that with time, training would be used as yardstick for appraisal for private security company.
He said that the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps had mechanism for addressing the complaints about services of private security companies.