The Kwara State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, on Wednesday, said it arrested five suspects for allegedly extorting money from petrol stations.

The suspects, who claimed to be NSCDC officers on a national assignment from Abuja, were alleged to be going round petrol stations in Ilorin, the state capital, collecting money.

The spokesman for the NSCDC in Kwara State, Afolabi Babawale, in a statement in Ilorin on Wednesday, said the command had commenced investigations to confirm if the suspects were running a syndicate.

He said, “On March 8, 2022, around 2.22pm, our anti-vandal unit, led by ACC Yusuf Olatunji, got an intelligence report that some group of men, who put on the uniform of civil defence, were going around filling stations in the Ilorin metropolis, claiming to be members of the national task force on an assignment from Abuja. After meeting the managers of the petrol stations, they would collect money from them, as the petrol sellers thought that they were officers of the NSCDC.”

Babawale identified the suspects as Saheed Adedayo (37), Muritala Oloruntoyin (40), Emmanuel Ferife (45), Abiodun Oluseun (44) and Isaac Aluko (43).

“Luck, however, ran out on them when they got to a filling station at the Amilegbe area of Ilorin as the office of the anti-vandal unit was contacted by the management of the petrol station. The unit’s patrol team later swung into action and the five suspects were arrested”, Babawale added.

According to the statement, the suspects, while claiming to be members of the Importers Association of Nigeria, admitted to doing illegal duties.

Babawale said the commandant of the NSCDC in the state, Makinde Ayinla, appealed to petrol stations and residents to be wary of unscrupulous elements who might want to use the fuel scarcity in the country to perpetrate crimes.

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