No fewer than 60 people, residing at the Majidun, Ikorodu area of Lagos State, have been arrested by officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
The NSCDC officials accused the people of vandalism of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation pipeline in the area and aiding and abetting the vandals.
The NSCDC Commandant, Lagos State Command, Shem Obafaye, also claimed that the villagers attacked NSCDC officials who went on the arrest mission.
Obafaye, on Monday, revealed that the arrest came after he and his men received information about the activities of vandals in the area.
According to him, the vandals bolted at the sight of NSCDC officials.
The officials however seized large numbers of kegs abandoned by the vandals in their hurry to escape.
Obafaye said: “This morning, we got information that the vandals were back and we went back there.
“This time, our men were attacked by the vandals and the villagers.
“We fought back and at the end of the day, we arrested 60 suspected pipeline vandals and recovered arms, ammunition, axes and cutlasses among other items.
“About seven officials of NSCDC were badly injured and are receiving treatment.
“Some initial investigations conducted after the attack on our men suggested that the vandals have the backing of a particular leader of Majidun.
“We’ll soon arrest him.”
The commandant said that the 60 suspects would all be handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for prosecution.
Some of the alleged vandals who spoke with journalists, claimed that they were innocent, adding that the weapons recovered by NSCDC were mystery to them.
One of them, Tajudeen Adeniran, alleged that the NSCDC officials even arrested mechanics instead of the vandals they claimed they came to arrest.
Another, Soji Ajiboye, said he is a truck driver and was arrested at a Majidun Bus Stop for no reason and given the beaten of his life after he tried to resist arrest.
The spokesman for Majidun Tipper Garage, Kehinde Omoyale, also denied taking part in any crime.
But Obafaye dismissed their claims as frivolous, stating that a large number of residents in the area were big time into pipeline vandalism.
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