The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Rivers State Command announced the arrest of 262 people suspected of oil theft, illicit oil bunkering, pipeline destruction, advance fee fraud, cultism, and other criminal offenses.
Ogar Micheal, the NSCDC State Commandant, revealed this to the press in Port Harcourt while recalling the command’s accomplishments in 2022.
The Commandant stated that from January to December 2022, it arrested a total of 38 people and convicted 38 of them in court.
Since the beginning of the year, the Command has made an estimated 148 arrests, with 262 individuals apprehended for oil theft, illegal deals in petroleum products, sabotage of oil pipelines and electrical power facilities, advance fee fraud, cultism, and other criminal offenses.
There were also 38 convicts and 21 convictions acquired at the court of competent jurisdiction in the state. The Peace and Conflict Resolution Unit also achieved notable success by resolving 54 instances in Civil related matters through mediations between aggrieved parties and suspects.
Ogar went on to say that the Command would continue to work closely with all security agencies in the state to prevent any criminal activity during and after the holiday season.
Ogar added that “illegal oil bunkering activities have reduced drastically to nearly 90% as a result of the synergy between the security agencies in Rivers State,” reiterating their ongoing collaborations with relevant Sister agencies to combat all criminalities in the areas already identified as flash points.
