Govt warns against hawking in public offices

A bomb-laden car which exploded and killed two suspected 

Boko Haram members in Kano on Saturday

Federal Government on Wednesday declared its determination to curtail the threat posed by Boko Haram to the country, warning officers to stop hawking in government offices.

Permanent Secretary (Special Services Office) in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mrs. Esther Gonda, said this while declaring open a security consciousness workshop organised for the Department of Security Officers of Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

She said the government was planning to put in place adequate security measures for cluster MDAs within Abuja.

Gonda said, “Events of the last few months starting with the June 11, 2011 and August 26, 2011 bombings of the Nigeria Police Headquatres and United Nations Building respectively, have left no one in doubt of the fact that we cannot continue in the nonchalant way we handle security.

“The challenges we face daily demand that we must change our attitude in the way we work and the way we view our environment. We must be conscious at all times but unfortunately, there are people who are bent on causing harm to us all.

“We must therefore critically assess our surrounding and determine how vulnerable we are; hawking within government offices and selling must stop. We must also determine those who should have access to our premises and we must know that government offices are meant for performing government businesses only.”

To ensure adequate security arrangement for cluster MDAs within the FCT, Goda urged the DSOs through their respective MDAs to “provide basic security measures such as CCTV, Walkthrough Metal Detectors, scanners, parcel/letter bomb detectors.”

She revealed that the OSGF had already commenced the implementation of some security measures in order to beef up security at the Shehu Shagari Complex.

The Perm Sec disclosed that, “At the moment, the office is completing the installation of Bollards, Under Vehicle Surveillance System and Biometric Access Control System. Snipers have been purchased and the office has also concluded plans to beef up its fence with sensor wires and intelligent security cameras.”