The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Benue State Command, has called for a collaborative effort to stem the tide of vandalism of critical national assets in the state.
The Commandant, the La Bitrus, made the call at a stakeholders’ security meeting held in Makurdi.
The meeting was predicated on a directive by the NSCDC Commandant General, Prof Ahmed Audi, following a marching order by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) on the protection of Critical National Assets and Infrastructure (CNAI) nationwide, with particular interest in Benue State.
Mrs Bitrus lamented the persistent vandalism of critical infrastructure in the state, including the destruction of railway tracks and pipelines, which has rendered the state’s relevance in the national transportation network precarious.
She noted that the current trend of massive connivance between host communities and vandals along the pipelines route was particularly disturbing.
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The NSCDC Commandant highlighted the efforts of her command in checking the activities of vandals, including the arrest of 22 suspects and the prosecution of 15 of them in the past 12 months. She expressed gratitude to the Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, for his unwavering support to security agencies in the state.
Mrs Bitrus urged stakeholders to arise and join the fight against vandalism, stressing that the fight against crime can never be won by a single entity.
She called for genuine cooperation, intelligence sharing, joint operations, and handing over of arrested suspects to the prosecuting agency for stiffer penalties to serve as a deterrent to others.
The NSCDC Commandant expressed optimism that with synergy, unity, and singleness of purpose, the menace of vandalism and other criminality would soon be a thing of the past in Benue State.
