The suspects have been charged to court for appropriate adjudication and prosecution.

“Sixty-nine oil thieves and pipelines vandals have been arrested by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Akwa Ibom State for the first quarter of the year.

The State Commandant of NSCDC, Mr Abidemi Majekodunmi, who disclosed this on Thursday while interacting with newsmen in Uyo warned against destroying government critical infrastructure.

Majekodunmi revealed that the suspect were apprehended through intelligence.

He said, “Here in Akwa Ibom, we do know that the network of pipelines are much and definitely we have criminal and non-state actors tampering with the pipelines for economic profiteering and sabotage.

“When we get quality intelligence, we plan and execute operations to make arrests. We also have, currently, about seven boats. In that particular case, we have 69 suspects, illegal dealers in petroleum products.”

He added that the suspects have been charged to court for appropriate adjudication and prosecution.

He, however, urged communities with critical government infrastructure to ensure they are protected against vandalism.

The Commandant said the Civil Defence must continue to promote crisis management and be proactive in dealing with conflict situations in the state through peace and conflict resolution.

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