In the sustenance of the drive to stop oil theft and illegal oil bunkering, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) has destroyed 71 illegal refineries and 22 illegal oil bunkering sites in the last 14 months.
The Commander General of the Corps, associate professor Ahmed Audi, said that since January until now, the Corps has fought the activities of criminal elements such as vandals, economic saboteurs and oil thieves using advanced technology has stopped 134 trucks, 36 ships. and other equipment used to carry out illegal oil bunkering in the country.
He made this known at the 2023 celebration of the International Civil Defense Organization, (ICDO), with the theme “The Role of Information Technology in Risk Assessment,” which also marked his two years in office and graduated from the weapons handling, tactics and reform training program, yesterday in Abuja.
Audi said, “The Corps has been fighting the activities of criminal elements such as vandals, economic saboteurs and oil thieves using advanced technology.
“As a result, between January 2022 and up to now, more than 546 suspects have been arrested, 429 charged, 51 convicted, 71 illegal refineries destroyed, 22 illegal oil bunker sites destroyed, 134 trucks seized, 36 boats and other equipment used to carry out illegal oil . bunkering confiscated.”
According to him, the agency has made steady and remarkable progress in accordance with the theme of this year’s world civil defense day, since it was appointed exactly two years ago disaster management, risk assessment, crime detection and prevention, Critical National protection. Assets and Infrastructure (CNAI) like Petroleum Pipelines, Electrical Installations, Communication Equipment, Roads, Railways and others are better than before.
Audi said: “Before this time, disaster management, risk assessment, crime detection and prevention, protection of Critical National Assets and Infrastructure (CNAI) like Petroleum Pipelines, Electrical Installations, Communication Equipment, Roads, Railways and others were quite difficult but now. , there is a significant improvement.
“The Corps has selected appropriate protocols and controls to mitigate risk, create and implement emergency plans, monitor potential threats that could lead to disasters and prioritize protecting people and assets of the highest value.
In line with our mandate on disaster management, we have upgraded the Directorate of Crisis Management by strategically managing resources to reduce the harm caused by disasters through a systematic approach to maintain responsibility for disaster prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery.
He added: “We are determined to make the Corps a world-class organization, which is why we are not giving up, but working hard to enter the global space and tap from the experience of other ICDO members.
Due to the appreciation of Modern Information and Communication Technology, the Corps under my supervision has upgraded the ICT center with state-of-the-art facilities to meet the challenges of modern war and crime management.
“The Corps has designed, developed and deployed an Integrated Electronic Capture and Reporting System (i-Ears) for confidential intelligence communication, documentation of reports from Division Command to Commanding General through State Commanders, Secret Inter-Agency Data Sharing, Emergency Threat Reporting on a time basis fully distributed reality to live stream and monitor the security situation across the country during the first round of the 2023 General Election.
He explained that during his two years of leadership for the Corps, “our ICT and cyber experts have designed, developed and deployed the Electronic Disaster Warning Monitoring Application so that NSCDC can receive and jointly respond to fires, floods and other emergencies and so that we can activate our .to provide crowd control, crime prevention and protection for officers and emergency response equipment.
The CG also ensures commitment to staff welfare, adequate training and retraining of staff to increase capacity, upgrade facilities in all Civil Defense Training Colleges to promote career progression, professionalism and better performance to meet current and future security challenges, among others, motivation and further boost the morale of Corps personnel to effectively deliver on its core mandate and positively impact Nigeria’s internal security architecture.