The Edo State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Agun Gbenga, has raised fresh concerns over mounting threats to the country’s critical assets, warning that sustained vigilance is needed to protect essential systems from sabotage and disruption.

Speaking in Benin City on Tuesday during a stakeholders’ meeting on the Collaborative Protection of Critical National Assets and Infrastructure, Gbenga noted that Nigeria’s stability depends heavily on the uninterrupted functioning of key facilities such as power plants, communication systems, transportation networks, and water treatment facilities.

“These assets face both internal and external threats, including cyberattacks, terrorism, and sabotage. There must be a collective effort in the protection of the nation’s assets.

These threats are real, but our duty as guardians is to stay ahead and ensure the continuity of essential services,” he said.

Participants at the meeting included representatives from other security agencies, telecommunications operators, the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), and community leaders.

DCC Sule Muhammad, Head of the Critical National Assets and Infrastructure (CNAI) Department at the NSCDC Edo Command, stressed the need for continuous surveillance to prevent attacks on vital infrastructure.

Lt. Col. David Aghedo (retd.), Chief Security Officer of BEDC, described vandalism as a growing concern, warning that perpetrators are often “enlightened and well-read individuals,” making the problem even harder to tackle.

Engr. Matthew Ariyibi, TCN Assistant General Manager for the Benin Region, highlighted scavenger activity as a significant danger to transmission facilities, adding that the erection of shops under transmission towers was an unsafe practice that should be urgently curbed.

In a related warning, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, urged host communities of the Trans Niger Pipeline to recognize the dangers of oil bunkering and pipeline vandalism.

He stressed that while national assets serve the entire country, the communities in which they are located bear the brunt of the environmental and economic consequences when such facilities are damaged.

Punch