The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps has arrested three men over the alleged vandalism of an NNPC petroleum pipeline in Dafa, Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory.
The suspects were apprehended while allegedly attempting to retrieve sections of the pipeline they had earlier cut and load them into a truck, according to the FCT Command of the NSCDC.
The FCT Commandant, Olusola Odumosu, disclosed this on Wednesday while briefing journalists at the corps’ Kwali Divisional Office.
Odumosu said the arrests followed several days of intelligence-driven surveillance carried out by the command’s tactical team with support from members of a local vigilante group.
He said the operation began after the command received intelligence about suspected vandalism along the pipeline’s Right of Way in the community.
According to him, the suspects fled when they noticed the security operatives during an earlier operation, leaving behind portions of the pipeline they had allegedly removed.
Odumosu said they returned to the location on September 20 to recover the abandoned sections and transport them in a truck.
“NSCDC operatives on surveillance, supported by members of the vigilante group, swiftly moved in and arrested three of the suspects, while some other members of the gang reportedly escaped into the surrounding bush,” he said.
The commandant identified the suspects as Maitama Inuwa, 30; Yahuza Danlami, 32; and Yasir Abdulrahman, 26.
Inuwa, a native of Rafin Dadi in Lere Local Government Area of Kaduna State, was allegedly driving the truck, with registration number MAK 159 XA (Niger), which the corps said was used to transport the vandalised pipes.
Danlami, also from Lere, was identified as the truck’s motor boy, while Abdulrahman, from Gajiri Village in Suleja, Niger State, was described as an alleged representative of prospective buyers of the stolen pipeline components.
Odumosu said preliminary investigations had linked four other suspects to the operation, adding that they remained at large.
The command recovered a commercial truck allegedly loaded with vandalised NNPC petroleum pipes as well as 17 pieces of the removed pipes, according to the commandant.
Odumosu said the investigation had raised concerns about a wider criminal network allegedly responsible for vandalising, transporting and selling components removed from petroleum pipeline corridors.
He explained that the suspected vandals targeted isolated and forested areas where pipelines pass through the FCT, allegedly taking advantage of darkness to dig up and cut the high-pressure pipes into smaller pieces for transportation.
“This reckless activity not only causes massive economic losses to the country but also poses an immediate risk of catastrophic explosions and environmental degradation,” Odumosu said.
He said the investigation would be expanded to identify those allegedly financing the operation and the intended buyers of the vandalised materials.
“The command will work tirelessly to identify the end-buyers, the sponsors bankrolling this sabotage and subsequently enforce the full weight of the Miscellaneous Offences Act,” he stated.
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Odumosu urged residents living around pipeline corridors to promptly report suspicious activities, including unusual excavation and movement of trucks in isolated areas.
He said community cooperation remained essential to preventing further damage to petroleum infrastructure and protecting lives and the environment.
