Chief Moshood Balogun, the Balogun Alase of Idimuland in Lagos, on Tuesday said that they have enlisted the services of local vigilantes to the support Federal Government’s efforts in curbing pipeline vandalism in their community.
Balogun told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the incessant pipeline vandalism in his domain and its attendant threat to lives made it imperative for them to safeguard their environment.
He said that the communitiy had beefed up security around pipelines through communal policing championed by the local vigilantes.
According to him, members of his community have accepted to contribute toward the successful policing of the area by keeping an eye on the pipeline network within the area.
“We have resorted to exploring robust local strategy of vigilantes’ surveillance in tackling pipeline vandalism in the area,” he said.
Balogun also said that the holistic strategy would entail building better synergy with other security agencies and the use of sophisticated technology for surveillance on all pipeline routes within the community.
He decried the nefarious activities of vandals on national assets and described them as saboteurs.
“Protection of national assets is one of the primary functions of the community; that is why we have developed a more robust strategy local method to tackle the menace of pipeline vandalism,” he said.
The traditional ruler said increased surveillance and partnership with the host communities, especially in Nigeria would led to more arrest of the miscreants involved in the dastardly act.
He stressed the need for more training and development of anti-vandalism security organs in line with international best practice to enable them nip in the bud all the tactics of the vandals.
He added that the community had mapped out new strategies and acquired modern Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facilities that had been deployed to locations where critical national assets were constantly threatened.
Balogun also called on Nigerians, especially host communities of pipelines network to cooperate with security agencies in tackling the challenge of pipeline vandalism.
“We want to call on Nigerians, especially host communities to monitor and volunteer information to security agencies on the activities of vandals so that we can collectively defeat them,” he added.
Balogun expressed optimism that using local security operative would go a long way to curb the activities of vandals and ensure better protection of pipelines.
NAN recalls that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Jan. 10, re-launched its anti-pipeline vandalism and oil theft awareness campaign in Lagos.
Mr Ohi Alegbe, Group General Manager, Public Affairs of NNPC, said that continuous vandalism of its pipeline network remained a big threat to the country’s socio-economic development.
He said that pipeline vandalism and its twin menace of oil theft had grown over the years into a monster that constituted a threat not only to the economy but also to the environment.
It will be recalled that President Goodluck Jonathan had in 2014 said that about one billion dollars was earmarked to fight crude oil theft, and the apprehension and prosecution of offenders.