By Olukayode Idowu
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has destroyed over 100 illegal refineries across the country in the last two years, the Commandant General of the Corps, Dr. Ahmed Audi disclosed on Wednesday.
Speaking in Abuja at the opening ceremony of the 2nd Commandant General’s Conference in the year 2023, Audi also disclosed that: “We have arrested over 200 suspects involved in vadalism in the last two years.”
He however lamented that criminals were targeting public infrastructures and national wealth, enjoining commandants to double their efforts in tackling all challenges faced by officers across the country.
Audi while restating the order by the President in very clear terms that his administration will no longer tolerate crude oil theft, even as he gave a marching order to security agencies to end the menace of oil theft, said: “As the lead agency in the protection of critical national assets and infrastructure, we are obligated to key into this policy direction by further strengthening our anti-vandalization drive.
“I am, therefore, issuing a fresh order to all State Commandants to rejig and reenergize your anti-vandal and intelligence units to effectively execute this Presidential Order.”
He charged the senior officers to begin to deploy new strategies in tackling the spate of insecurity in the country, adding that the Corps had prioritized training and retraining, as well as procurement of modern operational and communication equipment in order to further enhance the capacity of the personnel.
He assured that: “We will continue to dedicate and focus more attention on training in the area of surveillance and intelligence gathering which is key in our quest towards finding lasting solution to the prevailing security situation.”
He however warned that it had now become compulsory for all personnel to attend staff development courses, insisting that promotion of personnel would henceforth be based on development courses attended.