POWER JAM POWER

In what seemed a power show
between two federal agencies,
policemen yesterday shot dead
two Nigerian Security and Civil
Defence Corps (NSCDC) officers at
the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipelines in
Ikorodu, Lagos State. The two dead Civil Defence men
are Messrs Adaji Gabriel,
Assistant Inspector of Corps and
Innocent Akegbe, an Inspector.
According to a source, Police
Inspector Sunday Gabriel with service No 120622 attached to
the Inspector-General of Police
Special Task Force on Anti-
Pipelines Vandalism Unit was
allegedly with the team that
killed the NSCDC men. The state police command has
since arrested all its officers on
the site. The police and NSCDC
gave accounts of what led to
the killing. On how the incident
occurred, a police source said that “at about 1am on
Wednesday, operatives of the
Inspector-General of Police
Special Task Force were alerted
by the Deputy Manager Security,
Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), that there was
a drop in pressure. They
requested that the area should
be patrolled to find out if
vandals were tampering with
the pipelines or a possible leakage. “The Lagos sector commander
quickly dispatched men to
patrol all the vandals-prone
areas in Ikorodu. It was while
they were on patrol; they heard
gunshots, around Konu axis. Policemen led by Inspector
Sunday Gabriel traced the
gunshot to a spot where they
saw 13 members of NSCDC in
two Hillux van. The police
officers who were about four were confronted by the leader
of the NSCDC as to what they
were doing at that spot.
Inspector Gabriel told them that
they were on patrol of the area
and questioned their activities in that area. At that point, the commander of
the NSCDC ordered his men to
arrest Inspector Gabriel, alleging
that he was disrespectful. They
managed to handcuff him, took
his pistol and Identity Card while they dragged him to their
vehicle. “Fortunately, the other
policemen were able to get a
call across to their commander
who sent for re-inforcement. In
a bid to protect their territory, gun battle ensued while the
NSCDC operatives fled the scene
and left one of their officers
behind.” Meanwhile, the NSCDC
has said that their men were
actually ambushed by the policemen who they alleged
were collaborating with the
pipeline vandals. The NSCDC National Public
Relations Officer, Emmanuel
Okeh, said in a statement that
the policemen ambushed and
opened fire on men of the anti-
vandal squad of the Lagos State Command of NSCDC, killing two
men on the spot while others
escaped with gunshot wounds
in Ikorodu axis of Lagos State. “This incident occurred at about
3am on Wednesday while the
officers and men of the corps
were returning from a
successful anti-vandals
operation where vandals were arrested along with their
exhibits and being transported
back to the state headquarters
of the corps. “According to an
eyewitness account, the vandals
phoned their police collaborators for support as they
could not overwhelm the anti-
vandals team of the corps. Immediately, the police got
wind of the information, they
laid ambush and opened fire on
the NSCDC patrol vehicles killing
two, while others scampered
for their safety with gunshot wounds as the vandals were
released immediately by the
police. On seeing that it was the
police, the men of the corps
refused to fire a single shot
from their rifles, but could only express shock at a sister agency
which ordinarily should assist in
fighting crimes and other
criminality are the ones aiding
them while the vandals
continue to flourish in crime.” Another senior NSCDC official,
who spoke to our
correspondent on the condition
of anonymity, said, “Around
midnight, a team of NSCDC
officials had just arrested some suspected vandals during a raid.
After the raid, the officials were
driving along the expressway
when a team of mobile
policemen accosted them. An
argument ensued as one of the policemen said that we had no
right to operate in the area. “The NSCDC men explained that
it was their duty to protect all
government facilities including
oil pipelines. After sometime,
our men left but unknown to
them, a team of policemen laid ambush ahead. The policemen
opened fire on our men, killing
two and injuring five.” The state
police command’s
spokesperson, DSP Ngozi Braide
said that the police are investigating the matter and
would ensure that those who
were behind the fracas would
face the wrath of the law. She,
however, commiserated with
the families of the bereaved while calling on both agencies
to exercise restraint. The Head of
PPMC/NNPC, Nasir Mohammed whose duty it was
to protect the pipelines. said the corporation has
shared out specific areas to
specific agencies for
accountability. “According to
the laws of the land, most of the
security agencies including the police and NSCDC were
empowered to guard lives and
properties of Nigeria. But in
recent times, we have
discovered that the rate at
which pipelines are vandalized is on the increase. This is why
we decided to partner Nigeria
Police to guide specific areas
where NNPC pipelines are laid.
We need to hold a particular
agency responsible for any form of sabotage. We have partnered various
agencies but the Arepo and
Konu axis where the clash
happened are supposed to be
guarded by the police alone.
They are the ones that we intend to hold responsible if
there is any increase in pipeline
vandalization in those areas.”
The High Command is very
jittery over the Lagos incident.
Another statement from the Abuja Headquarters of the
NSCDC yesterday confirmed the
killing.
The state
Commissioner of Police, Umar
Manko, Inspector-General of
Police (IGP) Mohammed
Abubakar and other top police
were said to be in discussion with NSCDC boss, Dr Ade
Abolurin, to avert a reprisal
attack. Emissary of the Force
Headquaters were said to have
visited NSCDC Abuja office.