Ondo NSCDC read riot act to pipelines vandals

THE Ondo State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Pedro Awili, on Monday, read the riot act for pipelines vandals in the state, saying the command would no longer tolerate such actions in the state.

Awili, who handed this warning in Akure, Ondo state capital, described pipeline vandalism as a crime against the state, vowed to curb crimes in the state, with a promise to live up to the mandate of the NSCDC.

He said the state command of the NSCDC would continue to protect all government infrastructural facilities in the state and make Ondo state a peaceful place to live.

“Our target in the first quarter of the year is to consolidate on the activities we have already carried out in 2017, which we have done and we will step up efforts on them.

“We gave ourselves the target of ensuring that there is very little or no vandalism in respect of pipeline and all critical assets and infrastructures of government.

“We want to ensure that there is no more vandalism of high tension cable, transformers, and other installations of government anywhere in the state.

“We have been able to achieve all these by deploying our men to all the nooks and crannies of the state, especially at the Local Government Areas,” he said.

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He notes that the frequent clashes between the farmers and herdsmen had been reduced through the intervention of the NSCDC in the state.

He, however, warned, “those perpetrating crime in the state to either vacate or face the full wrath of the law”.

Awili said that the command had ensured that the available manpower within the state command had been evenly distributed across the state, even up to the farms, where we are protecting the farmers and called for proper investigation before handling any suspect to the police.

“We have also instructed our men we deployed to these areas to give us intelligence information that will help the Federal, State and Local Governments, especially in combating crime,” he said.

“There is nothing like negotiation with a real criminal, once arrested; this will serve as a deterrent to other people, who may want to commit crimes.

“We do not encourage the suspects we have arrested, we discourage them from taking them to court for prosecution; that is the only way to discourage criminality”.