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From Joseph Obukata, Warri
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) Delta State Command, has declared that the protection of all critical national assets and Infrastructure is sacrosanct and not negotiable as the lead agency of the federal government in the protection of all government critical assets and infrastructure.
This is coming as the Command says it has arrested over 192 suspects, 52 tankers and 11 articulated trucks over illegally dealing in petroleum products, crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism in the state.
The State Commandant of the corps, Akinsanya Iskilu Abiodun, stated this on Tuesday in a statement released by the Public Relations Officer of the Command, DSC Emeka Peters Okwechime, in Warri, the commercial nerve centre of the state.
Daily Sun had reported that the federal government recently raised the alarm over the huge decline in revenue from the sale of crude oil due to oil theft by bunkerers and pipeline vandals.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited, Mallam Mele Kyari, had last week revealed that Nigeria was currently losing about $2 billion monthly to the activities of oil vandals.
Kyari noted that due to massive oil theft going on in the country, the country hardly meets the OPEC production quantum of 1.99 million barrels per day with the current production level of 1.4 million barrels per day which is currently being threatened by the activities of economic saboteurs.
But responding to the huge revenue lost by the federal government through stolen crude, the NSCDC said that the crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism would have worsened or taken a different dimension other than what it is today if not for the emergence and the gallant fight of the NSCDC in tackling the issues of crude theft and pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta region.
He said that only recently, the Command arrested over 192 suspects, 52 tankers, 11 articulated trucks, Toyota Sequoia jeeps, Sienna buses, minibuses, saloon cars and 50mm diameter hose, all used in the illegally dealing in petroleum products, crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism.
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The Public Relations Officer, however, called on the Judiciary to expedite action on all NSCDC cases in order to speed up the trials and prosecutions of suspected crude oil thieves brought before the court.
“If these suspects are being sentenced to jail regularly and timely, it will serve as a deterrent to others not to take to crime,” he said.
Dsc Emeka Peters also disclosed that the NSCDC would perform excellently well if the corps is well equipped and necessary logistics adequately provided in order to be able to crush these Vandals carrying sophisticated weapons.
He equally maintained that the command in its renewed efforts to ensure a crime-free society and the dire need to beef up security in all Critical National Assets and Infrastructure, the State Commandant have ordered the massive deployment of officers to provide adequate security and protection of all Public Centers and all Critical Assets and Infrastructure across the state.
The statement also directed all Area Commander, various Head of Department and Units, the 25 Divisional Officers to supervise and monitor the deployed officers.
Similarly, the Commandant General of the NSCDC Dr Abubakar Audi Ahmed, said, through a memo from the National Headquarters of the NSCDC, ordered the immediate deployment of NSCDC personnel to schools in ensuring the safe school initiative of the Minister of Interior Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.
On the 2023 general election, Emeka Peters said, that the state Commandant Akinsanya called on all politicians in the state and all political stakeholders to eschew political bitterness, hate speech, and campaign of calumny which is culpable of breaching the peace.
The NSCDC Boss through the command PRO said that politicians should rather discuss their plans, programmes and strategies to better a lot of the state and its citizens.
He enjoined all political classes to engage themselves in issue-based campaigns rather than taking to cheap blackmail, lies and propaganda which will not help the system.
