LAGOS – The Lagos State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), said on Sunday that it is to deploy 2, 000 officers to curtail insecurity during the yuletide.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the corps in Lagos, Mr Chibuzo Mefor, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview that measures had been put in place to map out the black spots, where miscreants usually used as hideouts.
Mefor said that the command would organise seminars and workshops for the neighbourhood watch and the vigilance groups across the state, on how to gather information on the activities of criminals and general intelligence gathering.
“The black spots are dangerous spots where miscreants use as hideout to perpetrate their evil acts and are able to escape easily because they are familiar with the neighbourhood.
“Two thousand officers of the agency are on ground and most of them will not be in uniform, so that they can not be easily identified.
“With collaboration from all security agencies and support from the public, arm robbery, pipeline vandalism and oil theft in the country will soon be a thing of the past,” Mefor said.
Mefor, however, said that the country had lost billions of revenue resulting to billions of dollars due to the activities of the criminals through oil theft and pipeline vandalism.
He added that the agency had been proactive in responding to any distress or emergency calls, intercepting ongoing transaction of oil bunkering and vandalism perpetrated in the coastal area in the state.
The PRO urged public and private organisation to support the government by providing surveillance equipment and sophisticated weapons to stem the activities of economic saboteurs in the country
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“Arm robbery and oil theft is a routine business among many youths, private organisations should partner with the Government by providing equipment that can be used to track them,” he said.
The PRO also appealed to the youths to involve themselves in vocational jobs, instead of engaging themselves in vandalism and oil theft, adding that it was dangerous and many people had lost their lives in the process.