The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Lagos State Command, has tasked the National Association of Scrap and Waste Dealers Employers of Nigeria (NASWDEN) on the protection of critical national assets around the division.

The State Commandant, Mr Adedotun Keshinro, gave the charge during an expanded community engagement on Critical National Assets and Infrastructure Protection (CNAI- P) with stakeholders drawn from Apapa, Mile 2, Ajeromi and Aguda areas of Lagos.

He urged the stakeholders under the Area E Command to remain compliant with government regulations regarding all their activities.

According to him, the community engagement couldn’t have come at a better time  than now.

Keshinro warned the public to desist from vandalism, which is capable of jeopardising the integrity of the state’s infrastructure and the economy, as culprits will be made to face the full wrath of the law.

The commandant, who was represented at the event, by the command’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Superintendent of Corps, Oluwaseun Abolurin, commended the stakeholders in for joining forces with the corps “to eliminate the saboteurs of our commonwealth”.

The Executive Chairmen of Apapa Local Council, Adejumoke Senbajo, was represented by the Council Manager, Mrs Adebanji Oluwatoyino, commended the coordinated efforts of the Lagos NSCDC towards ensuring infrastructure integrity in the state.

She further said it would take continuous collective “organised efforts such as this to truly safeguard our roads, telecommunications cables, manholes, electrical cables, power installations, rail tracks, fibre optic cables and other public and private utilities”.

The Executive Chairman of Ifelodun Local Council, Mayor Okeowo, represented by his Chief Security Officer, also committed to the provision of operational vehicles to boost the performance and capacity of security agencies in his council.

He called on the public to continue to support the command, so that it would continue to deliver on its mandate as they cannot do it alone.

The Nigerian Navy was represented by Lt-Commander AJ Omosola from NNS Beecroft.

He pledged the Navy’s support towards ensuring a collective coordinated policing of the critical national assets and infrastructure protection in the state, charging the command to ensure that its coordinated efforts on synergy, intelligence gathering and surveillance remain enhanced.

The National Orientation Agency (NOA) urged the support of the corps in reducing vandalism of assets to the barest minimum.

He commended the command also for its efforts towards ensuring a state-wide sensitisation of the people at the grassroots as he can attest to this fact.

The Chairman, Scrap Dealers Association of Apapa, represented by the association’s spokesperson, stressed that measures were being put in place by his executives to ensure compliance with extant laws guiding their operations.

The Commander, Area E, Assistant Commandant of Corps, Adamu Nana, and the divisional officers under him reiterated their resolve to fight vandalism head-on and bring culprits to book in their Areas of Responsibility (AoRs).