Thirty-three suspected pipeline vandals and oil bunkerers are presently facing prosecution at the Federal High Court, Umuahia.

Commander, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Abia, Benito Eze, said this while presenting two suspected oil bunkerers before newsmen at the command’s headquarters in Umuahia.

Eze said the suspects, Charles Nwachukwu and Ayo Banjo, were arrested at the Aba end of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, following a tip off.

He noted that they were arrested while conveying blue gas in a 2000-capacity MAN Diesel truck with Reg. No. Plateau: LGT 458 XA.

The commander said the command secured eight convictions from June last year to date and the convicts were presently serving various jail terms in different prisons in the state.

Eze said the command was enjoying robust collaboration with the judiciary and hoped that the pending cases would soon be cleared.

According to him, they do not have any challenge with prosecution because the judiciary was collaborating with them to ensure their cases did not suffer undue delay.

He restated the commitment of the command toward reducing the rate of pipeline vandalism and oil bunkering in Abia and warned those who engaged in the crime to stop it.

Speaking in an interview with newsmen, one of the suspects, Nwachukwu, who was the driver of the truck, admitted committing the alleged offence, saying he was paid N30,000 by one Michael Chukwu, who owned the truck, to transport the consignment from Port Harcourt to Owerri.

He absolved Banjo, who is an automobile mechanic, of complicity in the alleged crime, saying he invited Banjo from Owerri to come and fix the truck, when it broke down on the expressway, while on his way back.

Banjo said he joined the truck after fixing it before they were arrested on their way back to Owerri, saying the truck conductor escaped arrest.

Meanwhile, the commander said the suspects would be charged to court at the end of the ongoing investigation.