11 pipeline vandals arrested in Benue

The Benue command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has arrested 11 suspected NNPC pipeline vandals at the Apir Depot in Makurdi.

Yakubu Ibrahim, NSCDC commandant in Benue, stated this on Friday, when he conducted journalists round the depot to see the level of destruction to the pipeline (Yola line) by vandals.

The commandant said that the arrest of the suspects followed credible intelligence and the dispatch of a team from anti-vandal and rapid response squad units on May 14.

“On reaching the scene that day, the vandals, who probably got wind of our men’s coming, went into hiding.

“That day some of their working equipment, two shovels, one small hoe, one red Jincheng motorcycle and 16 pieces of 10 feets NNPC pipelines were recovered from them.

“However, today luck ran out on them and they were caught in the act,’’ he said.

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Ibrahim said that such massive destruction of national assets had been going on for a while, and no resident of the Apir community reported the matter.

He alleged that they were complicit in the activities of the vandals.

“We have farmers, residents, youths and community leaders in this area and the act has gone on for months.

“They chose to remain silent, so they are accomplices in this crime and they cannot go scot-free.

“We will not rest until we arrest the masterminds of this crime because they are no longer satisfied with stealing what is in the pipeline, but now digging out the whole pipeline to sell them for peanuts.

“Whoever is involved in this dastardly act is out to knock down the economy of the nation so he must be brought to book,’’ he said.

He said the NSCDC in the state has deployed plain clothes officers to keep surveillance on the pipeline, adding that they would carry out periodic raids in the area to forestall further activities of vandals.

11 pipeline vandals arrested in Benue

Doctor, nurses arrested over missing placenta in Kwara hospital

The police in Kwara State have commenced an investigation into the disappearance of the umbilical cord and placenta of a newborn baby at Government Cottage Hospital, Iloffa in the Oke-Ero Local Government Area of the state.

The mother, identified as Mrs C. Williams, a class teacher at Orota Secondary School, Odo-Owa, was reported to have had the child on Sunday night but was not given the umbilical cord and the placenta by the hospital’s workers.

City Round learnt that five of the workers were later arrested in connection with the missing parts and were being detained by the general Investigation unit of the State Criminal Investigation Department of the command in Ilorin.

The suspects detained by the police include a resident doctor, three nurses and a ward attendant at the hospital.

It was gathered that the police were invited when efforts to settle the controversy at various levels failed,

It was further gathered that it took the efforts of elders of Odo-Owa community to calm some angry youths who suspected foul play and were about to burn down the hospital on Tuesday over the incident.

Mrs Williams, while narrating her ordeal, said that she was rushed to the hospital while experiencing labour pains on Sunday afternoon and gave birth to a baby at about 7 pm the same day.

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“I was feeling some labour pains on Sunday and I got to the cottage hospital, some minutes past 1 pm on Sunday, and told the nurse I met on duty that I was having contractions; she was the one that attended to me after confirming that I was truly in labour.

“She took me into the labour room and asked me to wait because I still had more time. Not quite long after I came, the doctor also came in and instructed the nurse to usher me into the labour room,” she said.

She said that after having the baby, the following morning, she was discharged and allowed to go home.

She, however, said that the hospital workers gave her a bag containing her items but did not give her the placenta and the umbilical cord of the baby when they asked her to go home.

“Although they handed a black nylon bag to me, I discovered that there were two missing items inside the nylon; they are the umbilical cord and the placenta,” she said.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ejire-Adeyemi Toun, confirmed the incident, adding that the investigation was ongoing.

“The police are investigating the incident and five suspects have been arrested in connection with it,” the PPRO said.

Doctor, nurses arrested over missing placenta in Kwara hospital

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Fire guts new NNPCL tank farm in Lagos

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL Tank Farm at Kayode Street, Marine Beach, in the Apapa area of Lagos was on Friday was gutted by fire.