From: Ahmad Ibrahim, Lokoja
Tension is looming in the Kogi State Command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps( NSCDC), as some officers were allegedly fingered to have aided the escape of some suspects from the cell after been heavily induced.
Peoples Daily reliably gathered 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 of the state command.
On interrogation, they were said to have confessed that the products which consist of 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.
A source who pleaded not to be named told our correspondent that there is a notorious syndicate in the command, who specialises in collecting bribe from suspects at will, and subsequently, aiding them to escape.
In his words, “ Oga, these suspects cannot escape 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, and the main door was opened at night for the escape of the suspects”.
He added that “ We understand that one of the suspects in the cell gave a phone number of a certain fellow who in turn reached out to some of our men that facilitated their escape” .
When contacted, the state commandant, Mr. 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 investigations be conducted to fish out those who aided the escape of the suspects.
