Prohibition from Carrying Firearms
One of the greatest obstacles facing the operations of private security company in Nigeria is the prohibition of the private security sector from carrying firearms. PSCs in Nigeria are prohibited from carrying firearms in their operations. This has resulted in the untimely death of many private security guards in Nigeria (Ekhomu, 2005). It has also reduced the recognition and entry of PSCs in Nigeria into the international security market. The lack of legal framework for permission to carry firearms has made PSCs to rely dependently on the police in the execution of high risk contracts requiring firearms protection. The legal framework in this regard needs to be re-considered. In the United States it is revealed that most of these jobs ( including government critical infrastructures or facilities) are outsourced to private securities to protect because private security companies are allowed to carry firearms (Strom, Berzofsky, Mas, Barrick, Daye, Horstmann & Kinsey, 2010). In South Africa, Uganda, Angola, United States and Europe, PSCs bear firearms and have been involved in international military operations, for example, in Iraq, over 100,000 private armed security personnel participated under the United State Defense, in Afghanistan over 65,000 private armed security personnel were contracted, in Liberia, Angola, Sierra Leone etc., unnumbered private armed security personnel were involved (Abrahamsen & Williams, 2005).