The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps has arrested three men over alleged vandalism of an NNPC petroleum pipeline in Dafa, Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory.
The suspects were arrested on September 20 while allegedly attempting to load sections of the vandalised pipeline into a truck, the NSCDC FCT Commandant, Olusola Odumosu, said on Wednesday.
The arrests followed days of surveillance after intelligence indicated that vandals were operating along the pipeline right of way in the area.
Odumosu, who spoke to journalists at the NSCDC Kwali Divisional Office, said operatives initially encountered the suspected vandals at the site, but they fled after noticing the security team, leaving behind sections of the pipeline that had already been cut.
According to him, the suspects later returned to retrieve the abandoned materials but were intercepted by NSCDC operatives working with members of a local vigilante group.
Those arrested were identified as Maitama Inuwa, 30, of Rafin Dadi in Lere Local Government Area of Kaduna State; Yahuza Danlami, 32, from Anguwan Kataf, Mariri, also in Lere; and Yasir Abdulrahman, 26, from Gajiri Village in Suleja, Niger State.
The NSCDC said Inuwa was the driver of the truck allegedly used to transport the vandalised pipes, while Danlami was the motor boy and Abdulrahman was allegedly acting on behalf of dealers in the vandalised materials.
Operatives recovered a long commercial truck with registration number MAK 159 XA (Niger), loaded with vandalised pipeline sections, as well as 17 additional pieces of the pipes.
Odumosu said preliminary investigations had identified four other people allegedly linked to the operation who remained at large.
He said the findings also pointed to a possible organised network involved in cutting, transporting and selling components removed from the pipeline right of way.
The commandant said the alleged vandals typically operated in remote and forested areas, where they dug up and cut pipelines into smaller sections for transportation.
He warned that pipeline vandalism could cause economic losses, environmental damage and potentially catastrophic explosions.
Odumosu said the command would investigate the alleged financiers and buyers of the vandalised materials, adding that those found culpable would face prosecution under the relevant laws.
He also urged residents living around pipeline corridors to report suspicious digging and unusual movements of trucks in remote areas to security agencies.
