A former Acting Commandant General of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Sulyman Akanbi Bello, has called for arrest and prosecution of sponsors of vandalisation to stop the criminal act.
He said vandals would continue to bust pipelines until their sponsors are arrested and prosecution.
Bello was Deputy Commandant General of the Corps before he acted for three months when the erstwhile Commandant General, Dr. John Adewale Abolurin was on sickbed.
He said security agencies should focus on the sponsors of vandalisation and not the boys carrying out the act.
The ex-NSCDC boss said: “The truth of the matter is that these sponsors of vandalisation are actually big wigs within us that are behind the organized crime.
“Some of us may even know them but lack the guts to expose them. Some of them are even highly placed in the society. The present government has no respect for the likes.
“But since the President Muhammadu Buhari administration came in, the frequency of their activities have greatly reduced. That does not mean their once in a while attempts isn’t destructive.
”The same methods could be implored to stop the bandits, cattle rustlers and even boko haram. All I am saying is that the name Buhari appears to instill some kind of fear in some of the vandals.
”Things are no more the same since 2015. The urge for corruption has greatly reduced because you will need to vomit the shit. Now, before you do it, you already know there is a new sheriff in town who takes no nonsense.
”So, that kind of fear goes a long way if one or two of these sponsors are arrested and punished. International sponsors used to get representatives in the country. The men being arrested for pipeline vandalisation are really not the main culprits or suspects, the sponsors are and it is those sponsors the government should go after,” he stated.

-NAN