By Olayemi Esan
The Osun Commandant of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Emmanuel Ocheja has stated that the hoarding of information by the civil population is a criminal act.
Ocheja made this known while addressing officers and men of the corps on the importance of appreciating intelligence gathering volunteers during the lecture organised to round off the 2022 edition of the International Civil Defence Day in Osogbo, on Tuesday.
The Osun NSCDC boss, while emphasising that nobody has monopoly of information, added that nothing was achievable without synergy, information dissemination and sharing.
Stressing the role of volunteers in intelligence gathering and information sharing, the Commandant called on personnel of the Osun Command of the NSCDC to always celebrate the volunteers, who are mostly the civil populace, as this would amount to defending them in accordance with the mandate of the corps.
He said, “always celebrate the populace. Make it a duty to attend to the civil population, the sick and the needy. We should he interested in positively affecting the lives of individuals and not leave them to disasters.
“Always be there to defend the entire population in accordance with the mandate of the corps.”
Earlier, Ocheja had described the International Civil Defence Day as a system that has worked throughout the world during the times of war.
“A team of volunteers were created to assist and help to save casualties of war and also aim to make people more aware of the critical roles of civil defence in disaster management, recovery and promotion of awareness amongst citizens about preparations, avoidance and self protection in the course of accidents and disasters,” he concluded.
The theme for the year 2022 celebration is, “Civil Defence and Management of Displaced Populations in Face of Disaster and Crisis: Role of Volunteers and the Fight Against Pandemics.”
