Florence Uwaeme
It was a horrible sight to behold on Tuesday as men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps went on a rampage at KomKom in Oyigbo Local Government area of Rivers state.
They went from mass arrests of unsuspecting residents of the area to the destruction of private properties worth millions of Naira, community sources said.
It was gathered that a truckload of the men of the NSCDC invaded the community, and was seen scaling people’s fences, destroying their cars, tricycles and other personal properties.
Eyewitnesses said the attack on the residents of Amakohia street in KomKom by the NSCDC personnel was as a result of a clash with pipeline vandals which led to the death of one of their officers.
Residents of Amakohia street were said to have been arrested and beaten to stupor and whisked away by the officials who were revenging the killing of their man.
At least 20 persons were arrested during the invasion.
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KomKom, a hotspot for oil vandals was the site of a deadly pipeline fire on June 22, 2019, which killed over 70 persons. Authorities blamed vandals for rupturing a PPMC pipeline leading to the explosion.
However, residents of Amakohia street who spoke to our correspondent said people from far and wide come to the area for bunkering operations, adding that they do not know persons who killed the NSCDC personnel.
They insisted that none of the oil vandals reside resides around KomKom, expressing sadness over the fact that they had to bear the brunt for other peoples’ crime.
When contacted, the Rivers State Command of the Corps said they are investigating the matter.
