The Ebonyi Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), has arrested a 43-year old man for allegedly defiling an 8-year old girl in a remote community in Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi.
Mr Francis Nnadi, the Corps Commandant in Ebonyi disclosed the arrest during a press briefing on Tuesday at the Command’s headquarters in Abakaliki.
He said the suspect whose victim was currently receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital in Abakaliki has confessed to the crime adding that he would soon be brought to court on conclusion of investigation.
“Our officers within the period under review nabbed a 43-year old man, Mr Emmanuel (surname withheld) for defiling an 8-year old girl.
“The suspect is in our custody; he will be arraigned to court once investigations on the matter are concluded,” Nnadi said.
The civil defence boss said that the command within the period under review also arrested three suspects caught in possession of 60 25-litres jerricans loaded with premium motor spirit also known as petrol.
According to him, the suspects who confessed to the crime engaged in illegal fuel marketing thereby committing economic sabotage.
“There are some people who are busy engaging in illegal purchase and sales of petrol and you noticed that the price of the commodity has skyrocketed, these hoodlums buy and store these highly inflammable product in residential homes.
“Some of them vandalise petrol pipelines and some outrightly deal in illegal petrol business without considering the risk to the public.
“How can you go and store over 60 25-litres of jerricans loaded with petrol product in a residential environment, you know how hazardous it is?
“So, we arrested about three of the suspects and they will soon be arraigned before a court of competent jurisdiction at the end of our investigation,” he added.
Nnadi who warned residents of the state to be mindful of people who come to their neighbourhoods in the guise of dealing in scraps or waste iron and aluminium materials saying that a good number of them allegedly vandalise public and private owned infrastructures.
He said that the corps arrested a suspect with full loaded articulated vehicle conveying scraps suspected to have been obtained from vandalised bridges and other public infrastructures.
“One of the core mandates of the corps is to protect federal, state and local governments infrastructure and critical assets and in the cause of our operations; intellegent-based, we came across some people who are dealing in scraps.
“Some were caught with vandalised items believed to have been from a vandalised bridge and some with telecom masts; investigation will reveal where they stole them from,” he said.
The Commandant further expressed readiness and commitment of the corps to combat crime and flush out criminals from the state.
He called for synergy among the various levels of security agencies in the state to effectively contain crime and criminality especially with the approaching of the Christmas festivities.
“As criminals are getting more emboldened and adopting new strategies to indulge in their nefarious activities, so also our men and officers are acquiring more training and upscaling their skills and capabilities to deal with emerging crimes.
“Training and retraining of personnel are part of my mission and vision for the command; to train and equip them to make sure they meet up with the prevailing crime rate,” the Commandant said.
On tackling cyber crime and providing cyber security in the state, the security boss said that there is a unit in the command that has been effectively equipped and deployed to tackle cyber crimes and ensure that cyber criminals didn’t have a space to operate in the state.
He urged the public to collaborate with security operatives by timely volunteering of information about criminal activities and criminal hideouts in their areas and assured of protection of identities of such citizens.
He commended the Commandant General of the Corps, Dr Ahmed Audi for enhancing the professional efficiency and capabilities of men and officers of the corps through regular training, retraining and for prioritizing welfare of staff.
