NSCDC Apprehends Eight, Seizes Seven Trucks of Adulterated AGO in A’Ibom 

Arrests suspected kidnapper in Kwara

Ahmed Shitu

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps  (NSCDC) has apprehended eight suspects and impounded seven trucks containing 315, 000 litres of suspected adulterated Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) in Akwa Ibom.

This is just as NSCDC  Kwara Command  arrested   a 40-year-old suspected kidnapper at Owode near Banni in Kaiama Local Government Area.

The NSCDC Commandant in Akwa Ibom, Mr Suleman Mafara, disclosed the arrest in Akwa Ibom  yesterday  while addressing newsmen at the command’s exhibits yard in Uyo.

Mafara said the suspects were arrested based on intelligence and surveillance by operatives of the Anti Vandals unit  of the NSCDC Akwa Ibom command on July 7 along Calabar-Itu highway, barely 24 hours after his assumption of duty in the state.

He said that the command would not relent on its mandate of protecting government critical assets and infrastructure from vandalism.

He said the activities of vandals and criminals were economic sabotage, adding that the command would not give them any breathing space to operate in the state.

“Today being Monday 18 July,  2022 the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Akwa Ibom  Command is parading eight suspects arrested in possession of AGO obtained through illegal means.

“A total of seven trucks were impounded carrying 315, 000 litres of adulterated petroleum products (AGO) believed to have been possessed illegally through bunkering and falsification of documents and waybills

“They were arrested along Calabar- Itu highway moving to various parts of the country. We have commenced our investigations and we have almost completed.

“As soon as we finish our investigation, we are  charging them to Court. I want to make it clear to all Nigerians that the NSCDC under the leadership of our Commandant General, Dr Ahmed Audi, will not relent in tackling all forms of criminal activities.

“I want to use this medium to appeal to all well-meaning Nigerians to support NSCDC for the betterment of the Nigerian society,” Mafara said.

The commandant assured Akwa Ibom people that the Command would make the state uncomfortable for criminal elements.

He warned criminals and vandals to have a rethink and relocate out of the state as the place was no longer safe for economic saboteurs.

Meanwhile, the  NSCDC, Kwara Command, has arrested a 40-year-old suspected kidnapper at Owode near Banni in Kaiama Local Government Area.

Briefing journalists on the arrest, the Spokesman of the Command, Mr. Ayeni Olasunkanmi, said that the arrested suspect was an alleged member of a gang reported to have kidnapped an elderly man in Eruwa, Oyo state.

He said that some of the alleged members of the gang had earlier been arrested by the Police Command in Oyo State.

“The suspects were said to have collected ransom from the victim’s family and still killed the elderly man,” Olasunkanmi said.

According to him, three suspects were arrested in connection with the kidnap and killing of the elderly man, but two of the alleged gang members escaped.

He further said that the arrested suspect fled from Eruwa in Oyo state, but was caught by the officers of NSCDC at Owode near Banni, Kaiama Local Government Area.

Olasunkanmi said that the suspects earlier arrested had disclosed the suspect’s name as one of their gang members.

The NSCDC spokesman said that security personnel were intensifying efforts to arrest the remaining member of the alleged kidnapping gang, who is still at large.

He said that the suspect would be handed over to the Police Command in Oyo State to enable them continue with their investigation.

The NSCDC Acting Commandant in Kwara, DCC Jonah Gabriel, called on the people of the state to always support security agencies by promptly reporting any suspicious character in their environment.