- Amidst the growing insecurity in many parts of Anambra State, the Chief Executive Officer of Blueshield Security Company Limited, Ozor Chief Jeff Nweke has revealed plans by his outfit to leverage technology to boost its operations in the areas of tracking, surveillance and intelligence gathering.
Ozor Nweke disclosed this in chat with newsmen at the corporate headquarters of the outfit in Awka on Tuesday.
The Blueshield Security Company Limited, established in 2014, was registered with the Coporate Affairs Commission, CAC, to provide security services to safeguard the property and lives of coporate institutions and individuals in Nigeria.
According to Ozor Nweke, the outfit came into being after a careful survey on the security situation in the country, which reflected the need to establish a homegrown security outfit that will complement the efforts of the government-owned agencies in securing the lives and property of the people.
He said in pursuit of this vision, the outfit has made huge investments in terms of manpower and equipment deployment, as well as technical support to the regular government-owned security agencies, institutions and individuals in the area of security.
Acknowledging that there have been a lot of challenges for the firm as a private profit-oriented business, which has given back so much in terms of Coporate Social Responsibility, to the society where it operates, Ozor Nweke lamented that the people do not yet appreciate the enormous work the firm is doing.
He said as a way of upping its operations, the outfit is exploring the options of deployment of technology in tracking, surveillance, intelligence gathering in security operations.
“We are looking at the possibilities of providing technology-driven security services, that will avail credible intelligence to the government-owned security agencies.
“We want to as much as possible, limit out areas of operation, to only providing intelligence through technology. That’s where the world is headed and it guarantees better results.
“Technology is the way to go and as an outfit with a clear mandate, we are already thinking and working out modalities to fully leverage technology to advance our operations,” he said.
Ozor Nweke made it clear that the Blueshield Security outfit from the onset, was never designed to rival the security agencies but to provide them the support they could not avail themselves.
“During the ENDSARS, it was an unleashing of coordinated attacks on security agencies and formations. It came to apoint where there was total breakdown of law and order.
“The attacks on security agencies emboldened criminals, and we saw a situation where we came to what I will call a broken arrow situation and every well-meaning citizen of the state started thinking about how to protect the society.
“So, having the Blueshield Security outfit, we decided to use the platform to get some personnel involved to assist the security gencies, to curb the crises.
“We did our best and provided security for the police stations.
“We deployed our personnels to the Area Command and the B Division all in Awkka, to monitor and keep surveillance of the areas.
“We also deployed personnel on mufti to the communities to be able to know ahead of time when an attack may come so that we can nip it in the bud.
“That was why during the ENDSARS saga, no single police station in Awka was burned down, as against what was happening across all parts of Anambra State and it was through our efforts.
“As an indigenous security company, we engaged experts in surveillance, as well as youths from the community who know what is going on in the community and fed us consistently with intelligence.
“Before then, there was nothing like CCTV cameras at the police stations.
“So, as a corporate social responsibility, we installed digital hi-definition cameras in some police stations in Awka, to give the police vantage position in terms of surveillance. We also provided 2005 Sienna bus then.
“We also decided to furnish the office of some DPOs to boost their morale which was already down after the attack and we also were there for the police personnel, encouraging them and motivating them that the society is still with them,” Ozor Jeff recalled.
He maintained that the outfit sees the Police as a critical partner in the work it is doing and there was no reason why they will run at loggerheads with any government-owned security agency.
“Security business is not only for the security agencies and the government alone. It is for the government, private security agencies, the individuals, everybody.
“So we were collaborating with the police and they can bear eloquent testimony to that fact that we never had any rift with them.
“We have ensured that we kept to the operational and regulations that guide our operations as a private security firm.
“Sometimes, you find that there are areas the police may not be able to cover and they need the citizens and even the vigilante people, who know the criminals by their names.
“So eventually, it becomes easier for these people to be fully incorporated in the security business, instead of the Police officer who was just transferred from another place and understands little or nothing about the terrain in the immediate environment,” he explained.
