Babatope Okeowo 
Officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have apprehended seven vandals and impounded four trailers for dealing in adulterated oil in Ondo State. The state NSCDC Commandant, Hammed Abodunrin, told journalists that the suspects, who were on transit outside the state, were concealing adulterated diesel and petrol in reserve tanks of their vehicles to evade arrest.
He said: “Our core mandate is antivandal and in the last one month, we have arrested seven heavy-duty vehicles – three tankers – that carried adulterated diesel. We have taken the sample of the diesel to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) for proper verification and we are still waiting for their outcome. “Also, we have arrested four trailers used for carrying cows, but under the container, they built tanks with each carrying about 200 litres of diesel. These suspects are currently under trial.” Abodunrin also said that in a bid to reduce crime as well as victims and casualties in the state, the command was working towards the establishment of a Quick Response Squad which would respond to any distress within five minutes anywhere within the state.
He said: “Part of my focus here in Ondo State is quick response time and I have been discussing with the governor that I want my quick response time to any emergency to be within five minutes and I need equipment to do that. I need more power bikes that any of our men can ride to any place at any time for quick rescue.”
Meanwhile, Abodunrin said journalists would be trained on security tips and to be security conscious to reduce crime rate in the state. He said: “Everybody must be security conscious and that is why there is a need for us to upscale the security skills of everybody, particularly the media who will be reporting so many things including the criminalities of people, and political campaigns, among others.
“So we want to see how we can prevent it from happening. The essence of this training for journalists is for them to know the things causing insecurity. What are the possible things to do to save ourselves; what are the little skills we can display if we have an attack, among others security tips for our benefits. “Also, we are going to look at some self-defence tactics. These are the things we all need as journalists to reduce the issue of insecurity in our society.” The commandant, therefore, advised that after the training, the beneficiaries should endeavour to share their training experiences with their families and associates to reduce the rate of crimes in society.