How NSCDC officers allegedly aided suspects to escape from Civil Defence cell

Uneasy calm has pervaded the Kogi State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps ( NSCDC) as some officers were alleged to have aided the escape of five suspects from the cell after being heavily induced.

An insider source told Newsmen that five suspects namely, Hassan Sani, Auwal Mohamed, Mohamed Mustapha , Mudashiru Abubakar and Ibrahim Rabiu were arrested by the anti vandals unit of the corps for bunkering and pipeline vandalisation along Abuja- Lokoja highway last Thursday.

They were said to have successfully carried out the bunkering business in the Niger Delta region and were ferrying the products to the north in two big trucks when they were accosted by the anti-vandals unit.

On interrogation, they were said to have confessed that the products which consist petrol, diesel and kerosene were illegally scooped in a forest from a pipeline in one of the oil rich states.

They were said to have been detained for further investigations at the state command office situated by the state secretariat, Lokoja.

However, it was discovered that by the following morning, the five suspects had escaped from the cell with the aid of some of the officers in the command.

An insider source who pleaded not to be named told Reporters that there is a notorious syndicate in the command who specialises in collecting bribe from suspects and aiding them to escape.

In his words,”Oga, these suspects could not have escaped on their own without the aid of these officers because the wall of the cell is so high that it will be very difficult to break.

” Only a small portion of the cell was broken but we suspect that the main door was opened at night for their escape because that portion, we believe was too narrow for any human being to pass through.

“We understand that one of the suspects in the cell gave a phone number of a certain fellow who in turns reached out to some of our men that facilitated their escape,” the source said.

It was learnt that the guard in charge of the cell whose name was given as Aliu Sunday was dead drunk on the fateful day.

When contacted, the State Commandant of the NSCDC, Samuel Peter Maigari, confirmed the incident and said that he has ordered that those on duty during the cell break be detained while a full discreet investigation be conducted to fish out those who aided the escape.

He, however, said he was not aware of any syndicate in the command collecting bribe to facilitate the escape of the suspects.