Security expert, Dr. Ona Ekhomu has advised the federal and state governments to conduct annual detailed vulnerability assessments of government buildings, key national assets, critical infrastructures and other facilities to prevent destruction by terrorists.
He said that with the growing specter of jihadi extremism in the country including Boko Haram, the Islamic State, Al Qaeda, Sahelian Jihadis (AAD, AMB, etc.), bandit-terrorists and others threat was rising.
Speaking on the 9th anniversary of the destruction of the United Nations (UN) House in Abuja by a suicide car bomb on August 26th 2011, Ekhomu who is President of the Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria said that the terrorists were likely to target Federal and state government facilities in order to cause shock and fear among Nigerian citizens. He advised the government to take proactive steps in preventing terrorist attacks by conducting vulnerability assessments
He advised the government to use either the Carver Method or the VSAT method of vulnerability assessment as they were sufficiently robust to expose loopholes or windows of opportunities that could be exploited by terrorists to attack critical national assets and infrastructure
Ekhomu said that the attack on the United Nations Building could have been averted if the UN had conducted vulnerability assessments especially since the UN got intelligence of the impending attack in Nigeria
Dr. Ekhomu, who is the first Chartered Security Professional in Nigeria said that in August 2011, Boko Haram was still in its infancy, having only succeeded in attacking the Nigeria Police Force headquarters building on June 16th 2011. He said that Boko Haram was now a terrorist monstrosity which is aided by groups like ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Sahelian Jihad groups, and others intent on destroying Nigeria. “The threat to Nigeria government facilities has multiplied in geometric proportions”, he added.
He advised the government to hire security experts and consultants to design protocols for vulnerability assessments. He said that using government security agents who do not possess requisite security credentials, experience and pedigree will be a waste of time as they may not have the appropriate technical skill set to do the job.
He said that Nigeria boasts of holders of the CPP, PSP and CPO security certifications who are seised with skills, knowledge and capabilities of conducting risk assessments, criticality assessments and vulnerability assessments. This is the skill set that must be deployed to robustly protect assets of the Federal government.
Dr. Ekhomu prayed for the repose of the souls of over 50,000 persons killed in Boko Haram extremist violence since the inception of the Jihad in July 2009. He referred to his new book titled Boko Haram: Security Considerations and the Rise of an Insurgency as a veritable roadmap for combating violent extremism in Nigeria and other African countries.