NSCDC Commandant-General (CG), Ahmed Audi, said this during his first quarterly meeting with senior officers of the corps, on Thursday at the NSCDC headquarters, Abuja.

Audi stated that investigations indicated that illegal miners collaborated with suspected bandits to carryout their nefarious activities.

“These bad guys collude and connive with illegal miners and they hibernate in our environments to unleash mayhem and cart away our resources.

“These are really issues that we need to face head on and so we need to restrategies on what we have been doing and buckle up,” the C-G said.

According to him, the corps need to do more and add some bite to its operations and make it more robust.

Audi tasked senior officers of the corps to put in more efforts in the discharge of their duties, stressing that the Federal Government was fully committed to ensuring the mandates of the corps were achieved.

“We have been receiving various support from government and so it is expected that we reciprocate by putting in our best.

“Ways to reciprocate is to try to implement our mandate by providing security for critical national assets and infrastructure and also to provide security for Nigerians,” Audi said.

The C-G said that there was also need for the management team to engage in appraisal discussions for the betterment of the corps and Nigeria at large.

“ We need to appraise ourselves on what we have been doing, methods implemented, results achieved and challenges.

“In the long run we need to discuss strategies on how to cope with challenges so identified and then chart the way forward.”

Audi tasked the officers on the enormous responsibility of ensuring security amidst emerging security threats posed by asymmetric conflicts, characterised by oil theft, vandalism, farmers/herders clashes amongst others.

“This insurgency has also metamorphosed into terrorism and terrorism has given birth to kidnapping and hostage-taking,” the C-G said.(NAN)

The resolution, reached during a committee meeting in Abuja, also extends the invitation to the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, along with the heads of other relevant government agencies in the education sector.

The meeting was convened to address a petition against the suspended Vice-Chancellor of Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education, Owerri, Prof. Stella Lemchi.

The petition was submitted by a group known as the Concerned Interviewed Professors for the Post of Vice-Chancellor, Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education (AIFUE), Owerri.

Signed by Prof. Kingsley Ikebudu and Prof. Joshua Umeifekwem, the petition alleged that Lemchi was neither qualified to act as Vice-Chancellor nor to be appointed as the substantive Vice-Chancellor.

The petitioners argued that Lemchi had never been a staff member of Imo State University (IMSU) and that “she falsely claims to hold a professorship in a discipline that does not exist at IMSU.

However, IMSU’s Registrar, Dr Julius Ozuagwu, dismissed the petitioners’ allegations, stating that Lemchi was duly appointed as a Reader/Associate Professor at IMSU.

He explained that her promotion to the rank of professor followed due process and met NUC criteria for academic staff promotions.

Ozuagwu further clarified that Lemchi was on secondment and was permitted to complete her tenure as Provost of Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri.

In his ruling, the Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Abubakar Fulata (APC-Jigawa), stated that all relevant stakeholders would be invited to respond to the petition.

Fulata explained that stakeholders would also address issues related to the frequent dissolution of university councils and the dismissal of some vice-chancellors.

He stressed the need for job security for all university personnel, including council members and vice-chancellors, underscoring the importance of engaging relevant stakeholders in the discussions. (NAN)