CSOs Urge N'Assembly to Revisit Probe of $195m Security Contract

A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) has called on the National Assembly to revisit its earlier probe of the $195 million coastal waterways security contract awarded to an Israeli private firm, HLSI Security Systems and Technologies Limited, by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

The National Coordinator of   Empowerment for Unemployed Youth Initiative, Mr. Solomon Adodo, who spoke on behalf of the coalition at a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja, said the cry of the coalition was premised on the fact that the said contract had grave national security implication owing to the ceding of the control of the country's waterways to a foreign firm.

He said this was a gross violation of the status of the country as a sovereign country, adding that revisiting the probe of the contract was necessary given that the action had grave implications on national security.

 

Adodo stated that: "All over the world, no nation leaves affairs of national security totally in the command and control of a private firm. Nigeria should therefore not be an exception."

He said the law vested solely the task of protecting the country's waterways on the Nigerian Navy.

The national coordinator of the group said: “The Empowerment for Unemployed Youths Initiative in partnership with eight other CSOs raised the alarm over a ‘shoddy’ contract for the security and control of our coastal waterways valued at $195,000,000.00 awarded to HLSI security systems.

The coalition noted that it had since petitioned the National Assembly, explaining that in the petition, it added that the continuation of the contract after the Federal Executive Council had ordered its cancellation was a source of concern.

 

"We therefore use this medium to cry out to the National Assembly to come to the rescue of Nigeria and Nigerians again. This massive fraud and attempt to surreptitiously hijack national security must not be allowed to stand. In the same vein, we herein use this medium to call on the president to rise and decisively deal with all those culpable of flouting the status quo on the reversal of the said contract," the group said.

It also called on the National Assembly to immediately call the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, to order and put the interest and security of Nigeria first, and not to jeopardise or expose the country to further security and economic danger.