By Agatha Emeadi
Buduka Johnson is a security expert and Managing Director, EPSS Private Security Services Limitedd and the National General Secretary, The Association of Licensed Private Security Organizations of Nigeria. She is a qualified engineer with experience in Information Technology. Johnson is a sought-after private security professional. In the run-up to the general elections she spoke to Sunday Sun on the necessary protective measures that need to be taken.
As a security expert, what should voters do at the polling units to keep themselves safe?
Security generally is not a one-size-fits-all arrangement. Personal security entails planning, to determine what is best. The first thing we should hold firm is to make the news our best friend. We all need information on what is going around. Situations change within a second and if one gets the news fast, we would be aware of our environment. In terms of security at the polling units, let us try not register in units far from our various houses, instead make it close to our home, so the proximity of the travel will help and guide us. At the polling units, let us get there early, do our accreditation, get back home before the voting starts. I have heard people who say wait around your unit until voting starts, but we must also know that crowd control has not been tactically managed. The crowd is all we need to avoid since one is not armed like security personnel.
What is the security responsibility of the government as the citizens goes to the polls?
If the government is willing to have a better solution, as I sit in my office, I can know what is exactly going on in my house because of technology. So, the government is also able to achieve that and bring up budget to do such; it is possible. The problem is just willingness do it. There are drones that can detect where things are happening. During elections, government owes the citizens the responsibility of protection because no one can tell that he or she wants to come out and vote in safety. So, the body language of the president should tell us that he is ready to change the situation because there is so much fear to come out. One cannot defend democracy if you do not do protect your citizens. Therefore, the government owes the citizens the maximum protection they need. They should use their military personnel or seek for external help just like the Russians acquired weapon systems to help them with the war; if they cannot, if they do not protect us, we will be afraid to go out and vote for our choice candidates, unless they want to intimidate us and scare us away? So, the Federal Government should be able to tell us their strategy on what to do at 1760 polling units all around the federation, what they would do in the 774 local governments to protect us as we cast our votes. The president needs to come out and differentiate rumour from the real thing, tell us his strategy to keep us safe to defend democracy. If he wants to reign, the best he can do for us now is to help us to go and vote in an enabling environment.
What about personal security guidance?
The truth is that you as a person, you have the security of your life in your own hands because the government is overwhelmed. All the agencies are really overwhelmed, so as a person, part of your preparation as we go into the election is to mind yourself, the children and family. The minors who are not to vote should be at home and not even come out to play around. The grievance of one not having his or her way is a whole lot. Worrisome again, is that there are a lot of characters playing around this time. This is a unique election because we have never had an overflow of #EndSARS; youths are more aware now. If we must go by what we read on social media, then expect the youths to come out en-masse and propel whatever our security harm could be done to people as they cast their votes. Generally, there is need to stock food because nobody knows what will happen. We have also heard that BVAS will really help to curtail some of the excesses in terms of polling unit fraud, election materials moving around, nobody really knows certainly how it will work because as the government is bringing in technology, the hackers are also trying their best. With the increase in cybercrimes, in the schedule of all that should be avoided, one should not argue with people about their candidates’ political break throughs. In Nigeria, we already have issues with ethnicity, religion and a lot of political divides, so the need for one to be careful how to speak in public places because no one knows who is being stepped on and save oneself by watching the tongue. Let us also desist from political emblems and avoid them. Election is before, during and after, there are seasons to the election, therefore there are different processes, identifying oneself might also cause security issue. Anything could be; therefore, one should go with his or her mind and cast the vote. Iif there is need to relate with people, do it and bear in mind that you are not armed.
This is not the first time Nigerians are going to the poll. What do you mean that this election will be unique?
We have peculiar times, there is already scarcity of funds where people have not adjusted to the losses of their funds between deposits and withdrawals. Certainly, the technology that has stopped people from buying votes and getting PVCs which would be useless if they do not go through the BVAS system. The uncertainty that probably one can no longer go to the polling unit and falsify the figures, not using the total number of registered voters in that area and so many things. There are different challenges in different states and areas, so with the banditry, kidnapping, hostage taking, and a lot of characteristics in between, including the #EndSARS saga which has not really died; the flood, hunger, insecurity which is increasing by the day and then talk about technology to know the particular system of INEC, so one can discover the architecture of a network system; all these would come into play on D-Day. The threats are not only physical. In Nigeria, government has said they have technology to track the bandits which is actually doable if they are willing. So, it takes willingness to do that. Even the security agencies do not know what to do, they cannot tell that they have all the strategies because in security management, one applies according to the threat they are having. When one looks at the map of Nigeria, you discover too many security threats. One has to identify the vulnerability of the threat in that area and then proffer solution to it. With over 774 local governments, I760 polling units, how does one take care of each one of them with peculiarity in terms of security votes? It is a big challenge for us as a country.
Therefore, what should be the solution?
Right now, you have the military, police, civil defense corps and private security sector of the country. I can you tell that if the private security employs over four imillion personnel, all youths in the country, there would definitely be a lot of gains in engaging them. But engaging the private security sector to close this huge gap, though it will not happen in this election because there is no preparation around it. So, if the private security sectors would be used because they have the technology and can even man those systems which they understand and work with IOC’s international organization with all the technologies they use every day coupled with experience, government could be assured to deploy information gathering where every local government in the country would engage a private security firm. But being an information centre, I would advise the government to concentrate on internal security of the country by enacting the laws that would help give value to that private security sector because without laws, it cannot have value; so even if we have strengths, we cannot harness them if we do not have and don’t have the proper policy and legal framework. There is an Act, even though it does not cover all the security bodies. If this new Act could be drawn, it will help in the national security strategy for the country.
What does it entail to be a private licensed security profession.
The police are the government and their responsibility is for the citizens because there are so many crimes the police take care of. We are private security companies who do not take care of crimes that have to do with the states, but we can report those crimes. So, private licensed security firms guard private properties. The essence in life really is food and shelter, then security. Therefore, the responsibility of the security is for the government. When taxes are paid, government provides security. The function of the government is to protect lives and property, but we have come to an age where people have grown with more citizens in the country and the police who are 334,000 in number, therefore per capitai, they can no longer guard and take care of everybody, except there is a reform in terms of equipping and having more policing. Now, there is technology to really make things work. They could be found at embassies, private infrastructures and civil defense which is meant to protect national assets as part of their duty they were giving by the Ministry of Interior, to supervise the private security guard companies. It is too much to deal with in this sector, because there are so many people who run the outfits but are not providing guards. But now, we want to make the Security Act (Amendment Bill) to cover every aspect of the private security in the country. Part of what you will be hearing from us is that advocacy to have that Bill passed, so we can have a definition. Even in the command centre, if they want private security to provide information in all those local government areas we are in, there is no proper command centre, no law guiding it. Even if the Inspector General of Police makes a pronouncement that private security will do this, there is no legal framework. We need that legal framework to function better. The Bill is with the National Assembly, so we wait for the new government to push the Bill and the reformsi. There is no political will from the government to make it happen, otherwise, private security firms are in every country. We need to do more, come together as a body to close that gap and push the government to do what is right.