Intra-agency and Inter-agency Squabbles
Aside from struggle for juicy contracts, private security companies also
struggle for dominance in the security market economy. This has led to
polarization within the private security sector. The situation is that
there is no single association in Nigeria under which private security
companies can voice their agitations for recognition. Today, the private
security company has such associations as: Society of Security
Practitioners of Nigeria (SSPN), American Society for Industrial
Security (ASIS – Nigerian branch), National Professional Security
Association (APSA), Society and Safety Association of Nigeria (SSAN),
Association of Industrial Security and Safety Organization of Nigeria
(AISSON), Nigeria Institute of Industrial Security (NIIS), International
Foundation for Protection Officers (IFPO) and many such others. This is
fundamentally unhealthy for a private security sector that is struggling
for national and international recognition and relevance in the global
security market economy. The effect is that the struggle within the
private security sector has deprived them of their relevance and place
in the national security policy making unlike the private security
companies in the United States which have prominent role in the security
policymaking of their country. More devastating to the growth of PSCs is
the inter-agency conflict between PSCs and other government security
agencies. In a National survey conducted in the United States of America
by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (2004) it was
discovered that there exist a competition between the Private Security
and public law enforcement agencies which serve as a barrier against
crime control. Private security personnel on the other hand argue that
public law enforcement officers have limited knowledge about the private
security industry and so do not appreciate the important role they play
in solving and preventing crime.