The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps has disclosed that it arrested 571 suspected vandals and destroyed 71 illegal refineries across the country within the last 12 months.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, NSCDC’s Commandant General, Ahmed Audi, stated this on Friday in Abuja.
Audi explained that out of the 571 arrested vandals, 512 were being prosecuted, while 121 had been convicted and were serving various jail terms in various correctional centres in the country.
He noted that the achievements by the Corps was part of the NSCDC’s commitment to ensuring pipelines were adequately protected against criminal acts.
The NSDC CG then pointed out that the growing trend of illegal refineries and re-emergence of already-destroyed ones was a major concern to the Federal Government.
“What is disturbing is the issue of illegal refineries; you destroy one today, tomorrow you will see another one. In fact, the one you destroyed reincarnates in about a week.
“However, the Corps has put in place both kinetic and non-kinetic measures to provide safety and security for our oil installations and other critical infrastructure in Nigeria.
“So far, we have seen that what we have adopted is working, so next year we will try to work seriously on the non-kinetic approach of cautioning Nigerians, engaging in advocacy, and having discussions with communities, youth, and traditional rulers, amongst others.
“We have realised that oil theft is a syndicated crime. So, we will attack the root cause; we have written advice to state governments on how to adopt some form of non-kinetic approach to provide solutions to this menace,” Audi said.
