Abuja- The Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Dr Ade Abolurin, has called for the establishment of mobile courts to ensure speedy trial of pipeline vandals.
Abolurin made the call in Abuja on Thursday at a stakeholders meeting with the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Power, Dr Godknows Igali on how to curb pipeline vandalism.
Abolurin, who decried the activities of vandals on the nation’s oil installations, stressed the need for stronger synergy among the stakeholders in the sector.
He said the NSCDC had been in the forefront of the fight against vandals and that the establishment of mobile courts and the review of the NSCDC Act would go a long way in winning the war.
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“We have been making a lot of arrests and prosecution of these vandals, but I think we need to establish mobile courts for the speedy trail of these criminals and also making the punishment more punitive’’, he said.
Abolurin said the NSCDC had avoided taking some arrested suspects to the lower courts because the criminals were sometimes asked to pay token fines and released.
He said despite the challenges in prosecuting the culprits, the NSCDC had so far prosecuted 20 offenders this year while 27 offenders were convicted in 2014.
Abolurin also called on the power generation and distribution companies to complement government’s effort by ensuring better logistics for security agencies manning the oil installations.
Earlier, Igali condemned “the senseless economic sabotage by the vandals which had seriously affected power supply in the country.’’
He assured that the Federal Government was working round the clock to fix the vandalised pipelines and also ensure adequate security for them. (NAN)