The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has uncovered an alleged diversion and illegal sale of service rifles by some of its officials.
The NSCDC spokesperson, Babawale Afolabi, said this while briefing journalists about the illegal activities on Friday in Abuja.
Mr Afolabi said the investigation led to the arrest of an NSCDC official at the headquarters, who was found complicit in the crime.
According to him, the investigation and arrest were carried out by the commandant-general’s Special Intelligence Squad (CG’s SIS), headed by Dandaura Appollos.
Mr Afolabi said the unnamed personnel, after his shift, allegedly removed an AK-47 rifle from his post instead of returning it to the armoury.
He said investigations revealed that the personnel concealed the rifle in two polythene bags, abandoned his duty post without authorisation and transported the weapon to Otukpo in Benue.
“The investigation revealed that the officer subsequently delivered the rifle to someone in Otukpo under a prior arrangement for N700,000,” he said.
He said the buyer then allegedly resold the AK-47 to an illicit arms buyer known as IBB for the sum of N800,000.
The PRO further said the main suspect attempted to conceal the offence when questioned about the missing weapon and allegedly tried to sign out another rifle.
“Through covert tracking, surveillance and tactical interrogation, the intelligence team apprehended the principal suspects and recovered the AK-47 rifle,” he said.
In a similar operation and investigation, Mr Afolabi said the CG’s SIS uncovered an alleged systematic diversion of two G3 rifles from an NSCDC armoury between 2018 and 2024.
He said that the investigation involved a person who was involved in the alleged illicit act while serving as the head of armoury in the NSCDC Adamawa command.
He said the senior officer allegedly removed the rifles from the store without authorisation and sold them to junior personnel in separate transactions for N210,000 and N220,000, respectively.
“The investigation further revealed that the personnel allegedly resold the rifles to a civilian. To conceal the alleged disappearance of the firearms during routine stocktaking, the senior officer reportedly falsified weekly armoury records.
“After physical counting of available weapons by his assistant, he allegedly altered the register by handwriting the serial numbers of the missing rifles into the stock records.
“The manipulation allegedly created the impression that the firearms remained physically present in the armoury,” he said.
He said the CG’s SIS investigation exposed the pattern, leading to the recovery of confessional and other evidentiary statements from key actors.
He said that the intelligence breakthrough by the CG’s SIS underscored the corps’ renewed efforts to strengthen armoury accountability, thereby preventing the diversion of service weapons into the hands of criminals.
“Internal disciplinary procedures against errant officers have been concluded.
“The NSCDC Commandant General, Ahmed Audi, has directed the Directorate of Legal Services (DLS) to immediately institute legal proceedings against all suspects across these four segments in courts of competent jurisdiction,” he said.
Mr Afolabi said that in another development, the squad intercepted a telecommunication vandalism syndicate.
He said that one of the suspects was caught attempting to cart away 12 telecommunication panels vandalised from an equipment cabinet.
He said that upon arrest. It was discovered that the vandalism and theft for financial gain had been ongoing for a long time.
“The NSCDC DLS is currently securing a 60-day remand order alongside search and arrest warrants to enable the CG’s SIS to apprehend the fleeing syndicate members across Delta and Kano states,” he said.
(NAN)
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