The Taraba State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, has arrested and paraded three suspects for allegedly vandalizing Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, pipelines.
Parading the suspects in Jalingo on Thursday, the state commandant, Anthony Bala Bitrus disclosed that two of them, Dayyabu Abubakar, 25, and Suleiman Abdu, 30, were arrested on January 31, 2025, at Marraraban Kunini.
Their arrest followed a tip-off from some concerned residents.
According to the commandant, the suspects had illegally excavated approximately 150 pieces of NNPCL pipelines from Dan-Anacha town in Gassol LGA and concealed them under bags of rice in a truck.
“However, acting on credible intelligence, NSCDC operatives intercepted the vehicle and arrested the culprits before they could transport the stolen materials,” he said.
In a separate incident, a third suspect, Muhammadu Ishaq, 27, was arrested on February 3, 2025, in Chediya village of Wukari council, while allegedly cutting and extracting NNPCL pipelines for illegal sale.
Preliminary investigations, according to the NSCDC spokesman, indicated that the pipeline vandalism network is mainly operated by non-residents of Taraba State, who recruit locals to cut the pipes into smaller pieces for easier transportation to other states, where they are smelted and sold illegally.
He said the three suspects have confessed to the crime and will face prosecution.