Unknown gunmen have killed an officer of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC in Rivers State.
The officer, Chief Corps Assistant Godwin Mbula was shot dead during an attack on Shell Gio Manifold in the early hours of Saturday.
The gunmen suspected to be oil bunkers had gone to the manifold known as Gio to siphon oil but were resisted by the NSCDC men guiding the manifold.
Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu, the Commandant General of the corps has, however, ordered a manhunt for the perpetrators of the dastardly act.
He condemned the killing of the officer which he described as dastardly and cowardly in a statement on Saturday.
The Commandant General said the nation was facing challenges with unrepentant vandals, adding that the Corps was also giving them sleepless time to reduce to the lowest minimum nefarious activities of vandals across the nation.
“Despite the attacks on our officers on a daily basis, we have vowed to bring an end to oil theft, bunkering activities and attack on all government critical infrastructures in the country,” Gana said.
He charged his men on the need to work closely with other sister agencies for effective policing, surveillance, intelligence and information gathering, with a view to ensure that the protection of lives and properties of the citizenry is guaranteed.
He stressed that security agencies cannot work and achieve results without the cooperation of the people, adding that it will take collective efforts of all security outfits to bring the perpetrators of this unrest to book.
The NSCDC boss further called on Nigerians to support the government and security agencies by providing them with helpful information as the public owes it a duty to the security bodies to identify criminals in the community.
Meanwhile, the Commandant has ordered a probe into the killing of a civilian by personnel of the NSCDC in the Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River State on Friday.
“I have ordered the arrest of officers deployed to Bakassi on Friday and they have equally been handed over to the Police for an independent investigation,” Gana disclosed.
The Commandant General while commiserating with the family and friends of the deceased, assured members of the public that the Corps would be transparent in its investigation and that findings would be made public and the offenders shall not go unpunished.
