The Oyo State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps said it settled a total of 44 cases out of the 47 brought before its Conflict Mediation Unit in the month of April.
The Command also stated that it had arrested various groups of pipeline vandals in 17 separate operations and secured eight convictions between 2015 and 2017, while other cases are pending in court.
The state Commandant of NSCDC, John Adewoye, made this disclosure while reviewing activities of the Command under his watch in an interview with our correspondent.
Adewoye, who attributed the success of the corps to recent adoption of Information and Communication Technology facilities and the healthy relationship between the Command and members of the society, said that activities of pipeline vandals had reduced considerably in the state.
He said, “I can proudly tell you today that we don’t have a single case of vandalism in the state, presently. The reason is that, we monitor the right-of-way every time. We are not resting. About six weeks ago, the stakeholders wrote a letter of commendation to us because they didn’t have any reason to shut down since they reopened Apata NNPC depot.
“I can safely say that we have curtailed pipeline vandalism within our command.”
Adewoye explained that the people always report suspicious activities around the right-of-way to the NSCDC whenever they noticed strange movements.
The commandant said, “Whenever we sight any burst on the pipe, we would quickly inform the NNPC and they would turn up promptly. Recently, the Nigerian Army began the clearing of the NNPC right-of-way and they are now around Ogbomoso, as we speak. So, there is no hidden place for criminal elements.
“Our efforts in patrolling the right-of-way, arrest and prosecution of vandals have reduced pipeline vandalism. Most of the arrowheads of pipeline vandalism are now languishing in prison while ICT has also helped us.”
Speaking on the efforts of the command in the area of mediation, he said, “Today is 22nd of May and already, we have mediated in 47 cases this month alone. Of that number, we have been able to settle 44 cases. As we speak, we are mediating between the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company and the Customer Protection body. The problem is
about the crazy bill given to customers and we shall do our best to resolve the matter.”
