Pipeline vandalism and oil theft has been on the increase in parts of the country, including Lagos. It is a challenge the relevant security agencies have been battling to put in check. In Lagos, for instance, the National Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, popularly known as Civil Defence, is said to have risen to the occasion in clamping down on the activities of these vandals and oil thieves, resulting in several  arrests made in recent time. The State Commandant of the Corps, Mr Adesuyi Clement Dayo, during a recent chat with Vanguard Metro informed of efforts by the Command in tackling the problem in the state and the attendant challenges:

“Since I resumed duty here at the Lagos State Command a couple of months back, it has been very challenging in the sense that I work in a new environment. I also work in a place where vandalism is the order of the day.

*Some suspected vandals paraded last Friday by the SCDC in Lagos. INSET: Adewusi Dayo, Lagos State Commandant

“The current state of vandalism in Lagos State is worrisome, because every day these criminals come up with one form of trick or the other. For instance, the last case we handled involved what is known as warehousing. The vandals  are now bold enough to rent warehouses where they store these products. This is alarming because if the situation should continue in this trend, then there is trouble.

“Statistically the country loses close to $7 million annually due to vandalism and oil theft.  This is not a good development as it affects our economy,” he stated.

On the steps taken by the Command to combat the oil thieves and vandals and put them out of business, the Commandant stated that  surveillance was mounted on some of the key areas where illegal operations were carried out. He added that efforts had also been  intensified in  building a relationship of trust with the communities where pipelines pass through.

“ This has helped in getting information on these illegal activities. It has also created a more favourable ground for us to deal with these information squarely,” he said

Mr Dayo also informed on the recent arrests made by the Command along the Badagry/ Seme and Owode border axis where 10 suspected smugglers  were apprehended at a petrol station that was reportedly  notorious for accepting and selling illegal petroleum products to suspected smugglers.

“I believe we are definitely winning the war against vandalism. We make arrests on a daily basis; we are sending signals to these vandals. As you can see today, we were able to arrest two trucks each loaded with 33,000 litres of PMS; we were able to arrest 10 suspects and at same time seize seven vehicles. So on a daily basis we are winning the war against vandalism. I believe the vandals are getting the message that it is not going to be business as usual”.

He also has reason to appeal to the Lagos State government to come to their  aid by providing patrol vehicles to enable them meet up with the challenges of covering  the vast axis where illegal activities are believed to thrive.

“The challenges we face here in Lagos State Command is logistics. We are talking about covering seven major axes that need to be patrolled on a daily basis, but we don’t have enough vehicles. So this is an area we are appealing to the state government to come to our rescue. We are ready to do our best, but we don’t have enough patrol vehicles. Hopefully, we believe that the state government will listen to us, because we have a listening Governor.”