NSCDC arrests brothers, others for alleged stealing, possession of drugs in Ebonyi

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Ebonyi Command says it has arrested two brothers and two others for alleged possession of illicit drug and stealing of tricycle in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi.

Mr. Francis Nnadi, the NSCDC Commandant in Ebonyi disclosed this while briefing journalists on the operations of the command on Tuesday in Abakaliki.

Nnadi said the brothers Chinagorom Njoku and his younger brother whose name was not given, were arrested with 56 kilogramme of Cannabis Sativa popularly called ‘weed’.

He said that the arrest was made based on information from the people.

According to him, the family of the suspect has warned him and the younger brother, who are all in the custody of the corps, to stop the illegal sales of the banned psychotropical substance on several occasions but, the advice has always fallen on deaf ears.

The commandant said that the corps had completed investigation on the matter adding that the suspects would soon appear in court.

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In another development, the commandant said the corps also arrested one Samuel Nwambara for alleged stealing of government rods, iron, and other materials used for the construction of some infrastructure.

He said that Nwambara was a registered member of the scrap dealers association who specialized in buying stolen irons and rods meant for state government projects.

“We got credible intel, swung into action and recovered irons and rods meant for government projects; on inquiry when we arrested his boy, we found out other things even the solar poles and panels that the government installed were recovered from his site.

“I sent my men to go and seal the site, my men were attacked; of course, we had to do the needful and eventually, when the real owner came, he testified that he received the stolen items from an ‘engineer’ suspected to be in charge of government project.

“Imagine an engineer who was given a task of doing a project for the state selling the irons, rods and materials for the projects, that is an economic sabotage.

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“If there is nobody buying the materials from him, he will not do that.

“Investigation is ongoing and we are going to get him and once we get him, rest assured that he is going to have his own day in a court of competent jurisdiction,” the commandant added.

The Civil Defence boss said that the corps also arrested a suspected criminal, Henry Nduka, who specialized in stealing tricycle popularly known as Keke Napep, from unsuspecting owners and selling them outside the state.

“We arrested the suspect, whom we believe is a member of a syndicate specialized in tricycle theft in Abakaliki; he stole a ‘keke’ here, sold it in Abia, got to Abia, stole another one and brought it down here to sell which we have recovered.

“Investigation is still ongoing to see if we can get the rest of the gang members and see how we can recover the rest of the stolen tricycles in the capital city,” Nnadi said.

The commandant, who spoke on the arrests of other crime suspects who were nabbed for various crimes at different locations in the state noted that the corps would not rest on its oars until criminals were completely flushed out of the state.

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He said that the NSCDC was in collaboration with other sister security agencies to ensure that crime and criminality were stamped out of the state or reduced to the barest level.

Speaking further on the achievements of the corps in the areas of crime fighting, Nnadi said that the corps arrested a suspected burglar, a man in his mid 30s who specialized in breaking into people’s shops and homes and carting away goods and valuable items.

“He was caught in the act with quantities of bags of garri looted from people’s shops; he is a serial burglar and he is under investigation and will be charged to court on conclusion of our investigation,” he said.

The commandant, who lamented the level of crime and criminality especially among the youths in the state, urged the citizens to always volunteer timely and credible information on the activities of criminals in their neighborhoods.

“We also arrested a 38 year old man for malicious damage of people’s property worth over N10 million and the suspect will soon be charged to court after investigation,” he said.