Era of looking down on private security outfit has passed — Expert, Amb. Sotomey

After staying many years at the United kingdom, Amb. Joseph Sotomey, the Chairman and CEO of Advance Secured 360 Solution Company returned back firmly to Nigeria. Olaseinde Gbenga engaged him in an exclusive interview on major structural deficiency Nigeria is facing in Security. He also spoke passionately on how he launched his security company adding that this is the best way he could contribute his quota for a safer society in Nigeria. According to him, with the state of the economy, crimes perpetrated daily, and the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic era, the demands for security is not the same any longer.

What does Advance Secured 360 Solution represent, and why was it emanated?

We started Advance Secured 360 solution some years ago. We started from the Northeastern part of the country as a result of insurgency, looking at the efforts of the military, the paramilitary and the police in combating crime in the Northeast. We realised that the personnel were not enough when they go attacking the insurgents in the forest and desert. We should be able to take care of our home and that is why we launched Advance 360 Security. We are in Maiduguri, Yobe and Adamawa State.

Today, you are now in Abuja. Why did you relocated down here?

We did not relocate, we just decided to emanate an office here in Abuja. When you run a business in Nigeria today, and you don’t have a branch in Abuja, it means you are not part of Nigeria, and that is how I perceive it. Abuja is the Federal Capital Territory, and i feel it is right for us to have the head office here in Abuja. We have offices in the Northeast, we have in Ibadan, that of Lagos is coming up sooner, likewise so many other states nationwide.

In a bid to enhance the safety of lives and properties in Nigeria, private security companies have played an active role over the years, what is the cooperation between private security operators and the Government security operatives in the country to tackle insecurity?

The relationship has been beautiful in such a way that all hands have to be on deck when it comes to security issues. In security today, everyone is a stakeholder; even the woman in kitchen, your cleaner and your house girl are all involved. We feel we need to work together because criminals and terrorists all combine together to strike, and the best thing we can do is to put hands together to put a stop to criminal activities in our society. We comprehend and give reports to the police. We don’t have much power as we only have licence to arrest and hand over to the police. We’ve been doing fine with them and our joint relationship has been beautiful.

It was established that private guards are recruited from poor socio-economic background, have low level education, undergo poor training, are badly housed, poorly administered, paid very small salaries, work under hard conditions, and these aforementioned conditions contribute heavily to their performance, hence the insecurity and lack of confidence in them by the general public. What is your take on this?

That is not true. There are different security organisations in Nigeria. We have licenced and the unlicenced security companies. Every licenced security company goes through so much vetting before getting the licence. If you have a licenced company, you won’t mess with it or take it for granted. All licenced security companies have their uniform properly kitted; they have their guards well paid and you will definitely know that this is a licenced company. The quack security companies are the ones that work underground, they get two-three jobs, they go into hiding without specific office. Advance 360 Security is a properly licenced security company.

We are in a society which doesn’t value security; if they don’t value it they won’t pay for it. How have you been managing the guards’ wages?

Just recently in our meeting, we set up a committee to change and enforce ways things are being done. We can’t just remain the way we are. God is not going to come down to change the country, we have to put in efforts to change things. The truth about it is that, we are working hard to restructure the image of security companies: Things are changing. We know it is not going to be easy; we have strong desire and I can assure you that when you see a private security company out there, you will be proud of it because we are going to be giving our best.  This is a licenced security company, and we are making sure that the personnel are properly compensated. We know people don’t appreciate security, but it is just a matter of time. As long as we are involved in this, we will see how things get better. The Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) which is our authority has decided to join our task force. We are working together to change the narrative. We believe things will get much more better within the space of few months. Some guards in their efforts to protect people, properties and assets, sometimes overstep their bound and some may intentionally abuse this perception which may lead to legal implication to your clients and the company.

From a legal perspective, what are the modalities your company puts in place to ensure that officers are aware of their rights, their limitations, and any situation that may be unique to their assignments?

Before we employ anyone, we do proper vetting. The training of any guard is done by the NSCDC. We also employ consultant to train them. One of the things we ensure is that we don’t bring in touts, ex-criminals or introduce people that are not supposed to be in the business. We conduct proper vetting before we give out employment to anyone. We make sure we profile them to know where they come from. I cannot begin to explain lots of actions we take for security reasons. The truth of the matter is that it is going to cost me a lot if any wrong happens to my clients. I will do all things to prevent that, by making sure that wherever I posted someone, he’s properly taken care of, and likewise thorough vetting is being conducted.

Advance Secured 360 Solution has been a major player in the provision of job opportunities by training and retraining to ensure they are competent personnels. Do you have graduates among them, and are they well paid considering they are graduates?

Yes, we have lots of graduates. The era where you will look at security guards as ‘mei guard’, ‘bloody mei guard’ and ‘watch men’ has passed. Now, we have men in control rooms; they are security men’ We have men in access control areas, we have men at the gate that vet people before coming in. The security guards can determine your movement in some organisations. Right now, my guards can determine if you would have access to me or not. They have control over you. The time when you would think guards are insignificant has passed. I have been to a Company myself to see the Managing Director, unfortunately, I was not allowed by the guards to see the director because I wasn’t wearing my face mask. So, I complied by going into my car to get the mask. That era has passed when you think guards are insignificant. Believe me, security is a top business now. Looking at the economy, crimes perpetrated daily and the pandemic era, you would agree with me that security is not the same any longer.

How have you been surmounting the challenge of personnel who ordinarily did not like doing the job?

We put in a lot of enumeration to encourage people to do the job. Our training has always been the best. The recent training I had with some churches was great because we make people to love doing the job. When you make the job interesting, people would want to stay. With my decade long experience in this job and as well as the General Secretary of the Association for all Licenced Security Company (ALPSPN) across all the 36 States of the Federation and the headquarter here in Abuja, what I do is to make sure that the young men I employ have love for the job. If you have love for the job, you would want to put in the best. I have also worked as a guard. I have been in the United kingdom for so many years. Out of the love I have for the job, I became a consultant today. What I ensure is to put the love of the job into anyone that is coming in. When you have love for the job, you put in the best and you will get a better result.

You have served numerous clients both in Government and the Private sector. Can you mention few?

For security reasons, I don’t think it will be necessary to list the names of my clients. But I can tell you that I consult for NGO’s, the Government, both States and Federal, for residents, international bodies, organisations and many more. I am still open and willing to work for anybody because I’m always putting in my best.

What would you say about the lingering insecurity in the country – is the government sincere in tackling insecurity, and is there any regulated strategy of sharing intelligence between private security companies and government security agencies?

It is said that an idle hand is a devil’s workshop. When you get a young man a job, he comes back in the evening. One of the greatest thing I do is to get the young ones something to keep them busy. When you have something doing, it keeps your mind going, and that is one of our contribution to make sure we have a safer society. I’m not going to deceive you, the government is trying. This is everywhere in the world. I’ve been opportuned to be in different countries. Let’s see how we can help the government, and that is why we are here. We are looking for a way to help the government to contribute our own quota for a safer society. When there is peace in the land, every-one enjoys it; I enjoys it and my family enjoys it. This is our own effort, and the government is also trying. We pray and hope that job opportunities, employments are open for the youths to get them off crime, the street and menace of drug abuse in the country.

How can people locate your company and what advice would you give Nigerian government with the level of insecurity in the country, and what should your clients be expecting from you this 2022?

For every year, I work so hard to bring in new ideas. We attend seminars. Criminals are improving daily and we also need to update ourselves to get ahead of them. If we are behind them, they strike us earlier, but when we are above them, we will be able to curtail them. The best way to locate us is to visit the ‘Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corp’ in any state of the Federation, ask for our name. We are regulated through our license. You just need to visit them, and you will be privy to any information you want about us.