The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), FCT Command, has apprehended 11 individuals involved in unauthorized mining, vandalism, and scavenging activities across various areas within the territory.
During a press conference at the Command Headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday, NSCDC FCT Commandant, Olusola Odumosu, reiterated his dedication to eliminating vandals and other lawbreakers in the FCT, with the objective of maintaining peace and protecting vital assets and infrastructure.
Odumosu said: “Let me relay unequivocally that the protection of all critical national assets and infrastructures in the FCT is not negotiable.
“As the lead agency saddled with this responsibility under the law, we will relentlessly discharge our duties without compromise.
“Based on this resolve, the Command has effected the arrest of these 11 suspects out of which five are suspected illegal miners, four suspected vandals of public assets and infrastructures and two suspected scavengers.
“Upon sighting our team, a lot of them took to their heels but this effort will be sustained with more reinforcement to stop their existence in that location”, Odumosu said.
The suspected illegal miners were arrested by the Mines and Steel Development unit of the Command after a tip-off.
The suspects arrested for illegal mining activities are Abubakar Suleman, 43yrs (M) from Kastina State; Sanusi Abubakar, 21 years (M) from Kano State; Abdullahi Musa, 18yrs (M) from Kano State; Adamu Hashiru, 31 years (M) from Bauchi State; and Ibrahim Abdullahi, 30 years from Bauchi State.
Suspects arrested for vandalism of government infrastructures and scavenging are Ayu Isimailu (M), 25 years old who hails from Gombe State; Micheal Joseph (M), 30 years from Kaduna State; Solomon Leo (M), 40 years from Kaduna State; Aliyu Shamsudeen (M), 18 years from Plateau State; Kashim Mustapha (M), 45 years from Oyo State and Onyeishi Monday (M) 43 years from Delta State.
“We have commenced thorough investigations to unravel their level of involvement in the offences charged.
“Rest assured that those found culpable would be prosecuted and if otherwise, be set free after due diligence is observed and in accordance with the extant laws”, he explained.
Odumosu reassured of continuous collaboration with other security agencies and solicited consistent information and actionable intelligence from the public in order to rid the FCT of unscrupulous elements sabotaging the efforts of the government.
