The Anti-Vandal Unit of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps has arrested 11 suspected pipeline vandals opposite the depot of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited at Apir, a suburb of Makurdi, Benue State capital.

The State Commandant of the corps, Yakubu Ibrahim, who disclosed this on Saturday said that following an intelligence report, the command dispatched its team to the area opposite the NNPCL depot at Apir.

Ibrahim said that the team discovered an illegal vandalisation of an NNPCL pipeline also known as the Yola line at the location.

Ibrahim said, “Eleven persons were apprehended at the crime site and they will be taken for questioning and profiling.”

While describing the activities of the vandals as an “act of terrorism,” the commandant said the destruction which stretches over 10km was an economic sabotage.

“This is my first time. I’ve never seen a thing like this before. It’s disheartening that these excavated pipelines which may have cost so much would be sold for pittance, indicative that the well-being of the Nigerian people was never in their consideration,” the commandant said.

Ibrahim expressed sadness over what he described as a “conspiracy of silence” by the residents and traditional rulers of the community near the scene of the incident. He, however, promised to investigate if they were found complicit.

He urged the people of the state to be more vigilant and more conscious of activities in their environment.

Items recovered at the site were the vandals’ working equipment with 16 cut pipelines.

In late April 2024, men of the Benue State Community Volunteer Guards arrested two pipeline vandals in Yakyor in Apir, a suburb of Makurdi.

The culprits were trailed and arrested at the weekend after they had sold the first batch of the loot for N400,000 and shared the money, according to Joseph Har, the Special Adviser to Governor Hyacinth Alia on Security and Internal Affairs.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has sued Nigeria’s 36 governors and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja,Nyesom Wike.

They were sued for failing “to account for the spending of trillions of Federation Account Allocation Committee allocations collected by their states and the FCT since 1999″.

This was contained in a release on Sunday by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare.

The release said the lawsuit followed reports that the FAAC disbursed N1.123 trillion to federal, state, and local governments for March 2024. They shared N1.208 trillion in April. States collected N398.689 billion in March while they collected N403.403 billion in April.

In the suit numbered FHC/ABJ/CS/666/2024 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court, Abuja, SERAP asked the court to “direct and compel the governors and Wike to publish spending details of the FAAC allocations collected by their states and the FCT since 1999 including the list and locations of projects executed with the money.”

The organisation also asked the court to “compel the governors and Mr Wike to invite the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to probe any allegations of corruption linked to the allocations and to monitor how the money is spent”.

It argued that, “Nigerians ought to know in what manner public funds including FAAC allocations, are spent by the governors and FCT minister.”

“Opacity in the spending of the FAAC allocations collected by the governors and Mr Wike would continue to have negative impacts on the fundamental interests of the citizens,” SERAP said.

It noted that trillions of FAAC allocations received by Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT have allegedly gone down the drain.

It believes that, “Directing and compelling the governors and FCT minister to provide the information sought and widely publish the spending details of the FAAC allocations collected by them would serve legitimate public interests.”

It added, “The failure by the governors and the FCT ministers to account for the spending of the FAAC allocations collected by them is entirely inconsistent and incompatible with the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and the country’s international anti-corruption obligations.”

The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi and Andrew Nwankwo, read in part, “States and the FCT should be guided by transparency and accountability principles and proactively account for the spending of the FAAC allocations collected by them.

“Secrecy in the spending of FAAC allocations collected by the governors and the FCT minister also denies Nigerians the right to know how public funds are spent. Transparency in the spending would allow them to retain control over their government.

“The governors and FCT minister have a legal obligation to provide the information sought including the list of specific projects completed with the FAAC allocations collected, the locations of any such projects and completion reports of the projects.

“The information sought should also include details of the salaries and pensions paid from the FAAC allocations collected, as well as the details of projects executed on hospitals and schools with the FAAC allocations.

“Despite the increased FAAC allocations to states and FCT, millions of residents in several states and the FCT continue to face extreme poverty and lack access to basic public goods and services”

It added, “The reported removal of petrol subsidy and the floating of the exchange rate by the Federal Government has translated into increased FAAC allocations to states and the FCT. However, there is no corresponding improvement in the security and welfare of millions of Nigerians.

“FAAC allocations received by the states and the FCT are reportedly characterised by mismanagement, diversion of funds, and abandoned projects. FAAC allocations have also been allegedly spent for other purposes such as election campaigns and political patronage.

“Publishing the documents on the spending of FAAC allocations by the states and the FCT would promote transparency, accountability, and reduce the risks of corruption in the spending of the funds.

“Publishing the documents would also enable Nigerians to meaningfully engage in the implementation of projects executed with the FAAC allocations collected.”

SERAP noted that the report that “some 140 million Nigerians are poor suggests corruption and mismanagement in the spending of trillions of naira in FAAC allocations collected by the states and the FCT”.

Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, has sacked all transition committee chairmen across the 21 local government areas of the state.

This is contained in a letter titled ‘Expiration of tenure and handover to Heads of Local Government Administrations (HLGAs),’ dated May 17, 2024, and signed by the state Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Affairs, Collins Nwabunwanne.

The order takes effect from Monday, May 20, 2024.

The letter read, “Following the expiration of your tenure as Transition Committee Chairman, you are hereby directed to handover the affairs of your Local Government Council to the Head of Local Government Administration (HLGA), in your respective Local Government Councils.

“This directive takes effect from Monday, 20th day of May, 2024. Thank you for your service to the state.

“All replies to be addressed to the Honourable Commissioner.”

The last time LG elections were held in Anambra State was towards the end of former Governor Peter Obi-led administration in 2014.