The Licensed Private Security Practitioners of Nigeria (ALPSPN) has proposed a minimum wage of N40, 000 for anyone offering guard services across the country. The association’s national president, Chris Adigwu, disclosed this recently. He said his administration would ensure the implementation of the proposed minimum wage in all states of the federation.
He noted that a new minimum wage had become expedient in the light of the increasing cost of living in the country, adding guards would be up to the task, when they are well paid.
“If our guards are well paid, they will do their work well and that is why we are proposing a minimum wage of nothing less than N40, 000 for anyone offerings guard services across the country, whether it is in Gombe, Akwa Ibom or in Sokoto states,” Adigwu said.
He said the association is one of the biggest employers of labour in the country with over four million Nigerians engaged in about 1,650 registered private security companies.
He disclosed that the association has the challenge of compliances and multiple taxation, especially from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), just as he called for a review of the tax method for private security guard companies in the country to enable them stay in business.
“‘We also have the challenge of foreign contractors and other people, such as the vigilantes encroaching into our business. Our members are well profiled before they are licensed and we pay for our renewal fees and are regulated by the government. So, the government should empower us to do our work, rather than allowing other groups to encroach into our business,” he pleaded.
