Agency arrests 8 suspected Boko Haram kingpins, prosecutes over 100 vandals

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) says it has arrested 8 Boko Haram kingpins who fled Borno.

A statement signed by NSCDC Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Okeh, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja, said the Corps had also arrested over 100 suspected vandals of critical infrastructure within the same period.

Okeh said the vandals were being prosecuted. He said the successes were achieved from January to date.

Okeh said the Commandant-General of the corps, Abdullahi Gana, disclosed this when he received participants of course 40/2018 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, at the corps’ headquarters in Abuja.

The delegation was led by AVM Humphrey Okpala.

Gana explained that the successes recorded by the NSCDC were as a result of the collaborative efforts of the Civilian Joint Task Force which he said had proved to be one of the useful tools for community policing.

He said the corps was not in rivalry with sister agencies.

“Rather, the Corps cherishes and always works in synergy with other agencies in combating crimes in the country.

“This synergy has worked out positively in the North-East where the corps’ personnel arrested Boko Haram members and handed them over to the Army.

“In states like Taraba, Plateau and Jigawa, armed robbers and rapists were arrested recently, and were handed over to the Police,” he said.

AVM Okpala told the NSCDC boss that the visit was to find out the corps’ position on the ongoing research directed by President Buhari on the need to strengthen the nation’s internal security framework and community policing.

“The institute was mandated to carry out the research in order to come up with strategy to tackle burning issues through interaction with stakeholders with a view to reporting back to the President accordingly,” he said.

Okpala congratulated the Corps for its new edifice and achievements recorded.

He also thanked the commandant-general for enlightening the delegate on the corps’ operations and achievements.