The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps ( NSCDC ), Lagos State Command has responded to the viral story about the alleged robbery said to have been perpetrated by 15 masked men in Civil Defence uniforms and 15 unmasked others at an hotel named, Seafortunes Hotel at Ago Palace way, Okota, Lagos State, on a particular Sunday ( exact date withheld in the viral stories ).
The Command, in a statement by its spokesperson Oluwaseun Abolurin said none of the persons in the incident were members of the Corps. He also said it is not unknown for criminals to disguise their identity be wearing uniforms of various security forces while carrying out criminal acts.
The Command has keenly observed, within few hours of reading these reports that purveyors of the story, overreachingly in a bid to attract more online readers and traffic to their websites, decided, to caption their stories with ‘Civil Defence or NSCDC personnel / operatives loot Lagos hotel …,’ without proper recourse to honest fact finding, objectivity, organizational reputation, adequate professional clarifications, true conscience, and balancing their stories, amidst others, Abolurin said.
The NSCDC, Lagos State Command, wishes to state categorically and unequivocally, clear that such act is unbelievably evil and can only be perpetrated, by evil doers and men of the underworld. Therefore, they are not members of the NSCDC, Lagos State Command, in any form, way and ramification.
The NSCDC, Lagos State Command wishes to seize this opportunity, to advise the general public to continue to trust the Corps and support it in ensuring the fulfillment of its mandates of fighting economic sabotage, amidst other heinous crimes in the state.
It is also important for the people to see something and say something as this criminal elements are trying various and new methods everyday, to beat their unsuspecting victims and cart away valuables, especially, through ‘impersonation of security organizations and wearing their uniforms.’
It is also pertinent to advise media organizations to always verify, clarify and fact find their stories, before going ahead to publish. No one will gain anything good in trying to bring a well respected organization down, through an act of sensationalism, he said.
