Vandalism: NSCDC arrests 546 suspects, prosecutes 429, convicts 51

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) arrested  546 suspected vandals, prosecuted 429 and has secured 51 convictions between January 2022 and February 2023.

This was made known on Wednesday in Abuja by NSCDC Commandant General (CG) Ahmed Audi, at a programme to celebrate the International Civil Defence Day.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that March 1, also marks Audi’s second year anniversary as the third substantive CG of the NSCDC.

The CG said that NSCDC had also destroyed  71 illegal refineries, 22 illegal oil bunkering sites, impounded 134 trucks and has confiscated 36 boats alongside other illegal bunkering equipment.

Audi also said that 530 officers and men who underwent training in handling firearms graduated within the period and officers including some female personnel who were outstanding at the gun range received monetary gifts.

The CG cautioned the new recruits against accidental discharge of fire arms and urged them to diligently guard their arms.

“ Don’t be overzealous, avoid intimidation or harassment. We are not like others because we are civil defenders.

“ Go back to your commands and exhibit highest level of discipline and conduct as God is with all of us and I hope our passion to take this corps to be one of the best be achieved,” he said.

Audi said further that the Corps has significantly improved it’s disaster management, risk assessment, crime detection, prevention, protection of critical national assets and infrastructure (CNAI).

“ The Corps has chosen appropriate protocols and controls to mitigate risks, create and implement emergency plans, monitor potential threats that could lead to disaster.

“The Corps has upgraded its Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and its cyber experts have designed, developed and deployed Electronic Disaster Alert Monitoring Application.

“ This is to enable NSCDC receive and jointly respond to fire, flood and other emergencies.

He added that the management had developed and deployed an Integrated Electronic Arrest and Reporting System (I-Ears) to fight crime and effective intelligence communication.

Audi said that in efforts to fulfill the mandates of the Corps,  the School Gender Base Violence Reporting (SGBV) application and the National School Security and Emergency Response Centre were activated.

“This is for the prevention of sex for grade, counter-cultism and for timely intervention to protect vulnerable school children in the country,” he said.

Audi said that this and much more activities were in to reposition the corps and sought the support of officers and men of the corps to reposition the security  agency to attain an enviable level.

“ Let me assure you of our commitment to staff welfare, adequate training, retraining of staff to enhance capacity, upgrading of facilities in all Civil Defence training colleges,” he said.