Security agencies operating in Imo State have forged a strong working relationship built on intelligence sharing, suspect transfers and joint operations against threats to lives, property and critical national assets, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has said.
Basil Igwebuike, Commandant of the NSCDC’s Imo State Command, said this cooperation had eliminated inter-agency rivalry and strengthened the collective fight against criminality.
Speaking to journalists in his office in Owerri, he explained that agencies now routinely assist one another whenever an arrest falls outside the jurisdiction of the arresting formation — a system built specifically to close operational gaps.
That intelligence-sharing architecture, he said, runs in multiple directions. Suspects arrested by the Army, Navy, Air Force and other formations for NSCDC-mandated offences — particularly pipeline vandalism — are handed to the Corps for prosecution.
He cited an active example: suspects arrested by the Navy and the Joint Military Task Force are currently facing prosecution over pipeline-related offences, with recovered exhibits held at the Naval Base, Oguta, pending court presentation. The reverse also applies — the NSCDC hands cannabis cultivation and drug cases to the NDLEA, while the NDLEA transfers matters within NSCDC’s jurisdiction back to the Corps.
Igwebuike called intelligence gathering, processing and dissemination a core pillar of the Corps’ work, urging residents to adopt the principle: “If you see something, say something.” Public tips, he said, allow agencies to identify threats early and protect infrastructure before incidents escalate.
He listed the command’s other priorities: protecting oil pipelines, telecom facilities, transport infrastructure, schools and health institutions; regulating private guard companies; running the Agro Rangers unit against farmer-herder conflict; offering dispute resolution through its Peace and Conflict Resolution Unit; and combating trafficking through its Anti-Human Trafficking Unit.
Igwebuike credited public-spirited individuals for boosting patrol capacity through donated logistics, including accommodation and vehicle rehabilitation support, helping the command “deny these criminals freedom of action.”
He attributed the inter-agency cooperation partly to Governor Hope Uzodimma’s encouragement and said the NSCDC would deepen media partnerships, particularly through school campaigns against cultism, substance abuse and criminal recruitment of youths. He urged journalists to verify NSCDC-related reports before publication, calling cooperation among security agencies, media and the public essential to protecting lives and property in Imo.
