The Society for Professional Background Screening (SPBS) has alerted corporate organisations and Nigerians in general to conduct background checks before employing their domestic staff.
The umbrella body of professional background screeners in Nigeria bemoaned the incessant rates of criminal activities of domestic staff, which has been on the increase in recent times.
In a statement, SPBS Chairman, Kola Olugbodi alerted Nigerians on the need to conduct background checks on their domestic staff, which will eliminate criminal tendencies.
According to him, people are being murdered by their domestic staff at an alarming rate. He also added that several families have lost their loved ones as well as valuables to domestic staff.
Olugbodi, who stated that there are huge risks in employing domestic staff without conducting background checks on them, further said that the attendant risks associated with a lack of due diligence is a serious one.
Expressing the readiness of his organisation to cooperate with relevant stakeholders, Olugbodi called for concerted efforts in totally eliminating criminal acts arising through faulty employment procedures, especially the domestic staff. He challenged outsourcing firms who are directly in charge of employing domestic staff to strongly focus on conducting background checks to forestall any criminal behaviour.
In order to forestall the spate of killings and kidnappings, which is widespread in the country now, Olugbodi enjoined outsourcing firms to reassess their work portfolio with adequate emphasis on background checks. This should also be reinforced with in-depth profiling of domestic staff. In his words;” When there are stringent and well laid down procedures for employing domestic staff, crime will be totally eliminated or reduced to the barest minimum”.
According to him, there should be a database that should contain detailed information on prospective domestic staff. This will be a potent tool to eliminate criminal behaviour through proper authentication of claims and verification of information provided by the domestic staff.
He further asserted that proper background checks, due diligence and authentication of employee claims will prevent the bad incidents of killings being witnessed in the country.
Olugbodi harped on the need to ensure the safety of lives and properties through adequate focus on background checks for domestic staff.
