Dr Ade Abolurin, Commandant-General, Nigeria Security and
Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), says the Corps had concluded plans to deploy about
500 drones and aircraft for proper surveillance of oil installations in the
country. Abolurin disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at a meeting with senior
officers of the Corps as part of efforts to strengthen its operational
strategy.
He said that the move was in line with the new
administration’s resolve to tackle the issue of oil theft headlong to boost the
economic revenue accrued to the country. The NSCDC boss, who decried the spate
of pipeline vandalism and oil theft in the country, said the corps was working
round the clock to stem the tide.
He said the corps was exploring new ways to monitor and
protect the pipelines, especially the use of technology and sophisticated
gadgets to track down the vandals. “I can assure you that we are already
exploring new approaches which will include the massive deployment of
technology as opposed to the outdated conventional approach you are use to,’’
he said.
He said that some drones had already been deployed on a test
run basis in some areas in the Niger Delta region such as Bayelsa, to test its
efficacy. Abolurin also said that officers of the corp’s anti-vandalism unit
had also undergone refresher training in line with international best practice
to deal with the menace.
He said that so far this year about, 250 vandals had been
directly arrested, while another 100 were arrested by other security agencies
and handed over to them for prosecution, with 35 successfully convicted. He
said the corps had also stepped up its protection of other critical
infrastructure in the country such as power installation, telecommunication
masts and equipment so as to ensure better service delivery to Nigerians.
The commandant-general called on the media, host communities
and other stakeholders to cooperate with the NSCDC and other security agencies
to tackle the challenge of oil theft and pipeline vandalism. On the issue of
the recent promotion exercise in the corps, he said the process was done
transparently and in line with due process as opposed to insinuations in some
quarters.
He assured that the NSCDC would continue to do its best to
ensure the security of lives and property in line with its mandate.
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