The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Adamawa has intercepted a truck loaded with more than 200 pieces of vandalised Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) pipelines in the state.
Mr. Idris Bande, the State Commandant of the Corps, disclosed this at a press briefing on Monday in Yola.
He said the interception, which took place at Mayo-Belwa Local Government Area of the state, followed credible intelligence received from an informant in a village in Taraba.
“The informant reported suspicious movement of a truck conveying pipeline materials from Jalingo, Taraba State, toward Adamawa.
“Based on the information, we obtained pictures of the truck and its contents. I immediately directed our personnel to mount surveillance along the Jalingo–Yola road, particularly around the Mayo-Belwa area,” Bande said.
He explained that the truck was eventually intercepted at the Operation Farauta checkpoint in Mayo-Belwa, where the driver and one other occupant were arrested.
According to him, efforts to reach the purported owners of the consignment failed, as none of them came forward.
Bande said armed personnel were deployed to secure the truck, which was later fixed and towed to the command’s headquarters in Yola for further investigation.
He said preliminary investigations confirmed that the intercepted items were NNPC pipelines vandalised from a border community between Taraba and Adamawa states.
The commandant noted that similar operations had been successfully executed by the command in the past, reaffirming the NSCDC’s commitment to curbing vandalism of critical national infrastructure.
Bande said the suspects would be charged to court after the completion of investigations, while the recovered items would be handed over to the NNPC as directed by the court.
He reiterated the Corps’ resolve to safeguard public assets and warned individuals involved in pipeline vandalism to desist or face the full wrath of the law.
One of the suspects and driver of the truck, claimed he was hired to convey the goods from Taraba to Gombe State.
“I am a truck driver. I was contacted to drive the vehicle to Gombe.
“When I saw the pipelines covered with bags of food produce, I became suspicious, but they assured me that they had all necessary documents and approvals,” he said.
He further alleged that they were escorted by men in Army and Civil Defence uniforms during the loading of the items before departing Taraba State.(NAN)
