NSCDC Destroys 250 Illegal Refineries

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defencse Corps (NSCDC), says it has destroyed more than 250 illegal refineries and arrested over 20 suspected pipeline vandals, particularly in the Niger Delta region of the country.
The NSCDC Commandant-General, Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu, who made this disclosure at a media chat to mark his one year in office, in Abuja, yesterday, further said that the NSCDC has also secured many convictions of some of those arrested for complicity in illegal refining activities and pipeline vandalism.
The commandant-general noted that the proactive stand of the Corps Anti-Vandal Squad in the Niger Delta area and other oil communities in clamping down on illegal activities of the suspects brought about the feat.
The corps chief, said the NSCDC, in its relentless effort to combat the menace, had been partnering with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in ensuring adequate distribution of petroleum products to all filling stations across the country as well as checkmating the activities of marketers who specialised in product diversion.
Abdullahi also revealed that the establishment of the Command and Control Centre had assisted the NSCDC personnel in monitoring all the pipelines in the Niger Delta, covering the six oil producing states of Bayelsa, Rivers, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Delta and Cross River.
He stressed that the Command and Control Centre operates 24 hours for the purpose of surveillance of the pipelines in order to clamp down on vandals.
The commandant-general emphasised that the introduction of the centre led to the establishment of Nigeria Security Energy Command (NISEC) for training of personnel through the office of the National Security Adviser for the purpose of effective deployment to areas prone to vandalism.
He said: “I want to assure the government and the citizens that the NSCDC will do everything possible to ensure that vandalism is brought down to the barest minimum.
“We are embarking on continuous enlightenment in order to educate community leaders and their subjects on the dangers of vandalism,” he stated.
According to him, “we urge those who engage in the act of vandalism to desist from such as it amounts to economic sabotage, which effects the country’s economic development”.