The Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Abia State, Ayinla Olowo, said the command secured 13 convictions out of the 23 cases prosecuted in 2021.
Mr Olowo said this on Friday during a meeting organised for officers and men of the corps at the state command’s headquarters in Umuahia.
He said that 100 suspects were arrested during the period for different offences, including vandalism of petroleum products pipelines, railway lines, power installations and telecommunication facilities.
Other offences, he said, included illegal dealings on petroleum products, child trafficking and child labour, gender-based violence and other related offences.
Besides the convictions, Mr Olowo said the court ordered that the 10 impounded trucks and cars, used in the illegal petroleum products business, be forfeited to the federal government.
The agency was able to resolve 41 cases through the alternative dispute resolution strategy, he said.
According to him, the command’s Anti-Fraud Unit also made several arrests.
Mr Olowo attributed the command’s feat in 2021 to the commitment of the operatives.
He also gave credit to the people in various communities. “Our strategy of engaging the locals to boost the command’s intelligence-gathering network paid off,” he said.
The state commandant listed other achievements by the command to include the rescue of a four-year-old kidnap victim, Wisdom, at Ubakala, near Umuahia in October 2021.
He said Wisdom was rescued at a time his 21-year-old assailant, Goodluck Joseph, who allegedly specialised in child trafficking, was negotiating with prospective buyers.
Mr Olowo said the command also succeeded in uncovering four illegal modular refineries situated in the oil-bearing Ukwa West Local Government Area.
He also said the command busted a kidnapping syndicate that was terrorising parts of the state.
The command generated about N2 million during the period from the registration of private security outfits and renewal of existing licences, he said.
Mr Olowo assured the command’s personnel that the weekly training programme, which he introduced on assumption of office about six months ago, would be sustained.
He advised the operatives to avail themselves of existing opportunities in and outside the corps to acquire more knowledge and continually develop themselves.
(NAN)