By Tosin Omoniyi

The Chemical, Biological Radiological and Nuclear Unit, CBRN, of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, formed to tackle emergency situations relating to chemical, nuclear and biological poisoning has carried out simulation exercises after a week of intensive training of its personnel.

The exercise was planned and carried out in conjunction with the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA and Nigeria Nuclear and Regulatory Agency, NNRA in preparation towards countering nuclear disaster in line with the international best practices.

According to the commandant of the unit, Felix Oke, the simulation exercise is anchored on the operational code of “Transportation Accident involving a Radio Active Source.”

He said the corps was preparing its personnel ahead of their responsibilities as the country gears towards the possible establishment of nuclear energy in the upcoming years.

The commandant general of the Corps,Ade Abolurin, while appreciating the efforts of the unit, added that he was aware that people were not always conscious of the implications of the destructive tendencies of weapons of mass destruction which are capable of creating enormous damage, bringing calamity and untold hardship to nations.

He noted that the essence of establishing the CBRN unit is to raise the sensitize the public to the different dimensions of the crime .

He said the use of guns and other conventional weapons has changed to the use of chemical and biological warfare. Therefore, there is the urgent need to train personnel sufficiently to face the challenges ahead.

Leader of the IAEA delegation, Pablo Jerez expressed great satisfaction with the Corps CBRN unit, saying that both his organization and the NNRA will keep partnering and supporting the unit with all necessary tools and equipment needed to carry out their assignment.

He, however, called for constant training and retraining of the personnel at all levels.

He equally advocated for continued synergy between the unit and NNRA as well as other stakeholders in disaster management, mitigation and response.