The Abia State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps has said it arrested 100 suspects, secured 20 convictions and resolved 41 cases, among others, in 2021.
The state Commandant of the NSCDC in the state, Ayinla Olowo, stated this at the command headquarters in Umuahia during a get together organised to appreciate the personnel for their support to his administration, which was instrumental to his award as the ‘2021 Best Performing NSCDC State Commandant’ by the Council of Security and Forensic Studies, Nigeria.
On the command’s achievements in the year 2021, Ayinla said, “One hundred suspects were arrested for various offences bordering on vandalism of Petroleum pipelines, telecommunications infrastructure, railway slippers and power installations in the state. Others were arrested for their alleged involvement in illegal dealings in petroleum products, child trafficking/child labour, gender based violence and other related offences.
“Our strategy of engaging the locals to boost the command’s intelligence information gathering network paid off well.
“The confidence of the public in us as seen in the useful information they provided helped in no small measure in the overall success recorded in the fight against all forms of economic sabotage against our nation, Nigeria.
“In our determined efforts to surpass last year’s record, we shall engage more of the locals with special attention to the indigenes of the oil-bearing communities as well as areas where oil pipelines traverse.
“A total of 23 cases were being prosecuted in court out of which 13 convictions have been secured with 10 vehicles (trucks and passenger cars) used in the illegal petroleum products business forfeited to the Federal Government, while the rest are at various stages of trial at the Federal High Court, Umuahia.”
Ayinla praised officers and men of the command for their resilience, professionalism and commitment to carrying out the corps’ mandates, especially in the areas of securing lives and critical national assets and infrastructure of the government.
He commended the Commandant General, NSCDC, Ahmed Audi, whom he said had “through conscious and consistent implementation of functional staff welfare friendly policies not only raised the morale and productivity of officers and men of the corps, but has also entrenched a culture of discipline, professionalism and patriotism among personnel, thereby taking bold steps towards the transformation agenda of the corps to fit into a 21st century security organisation.
On the challenges faced by the command in the discharge of its duties, Ayinla said 2021 threw up many strange developments, which almost turned security personnel into endangered species, but lauded his men for their resilience and commitment to rendering quality services to the people.
