NSCDC arrests scrap dealer, recovers stolen school property in Benin

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Edo State Command, has said that, following intelligence information, its personnel arrested a scrap dealer and recovered school property in Benin.

In a statement on Sunday, the command’s Public Relations Officer, CSC Ogbebor Efosa, said the combined team, made up of the Edo State Scrap Monitoring Team, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, and personnel of the NSCDC Safe Schools initiative, on June 25, 2026, at about 10 am embarked on a routine school monitoring exercise within Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State. The team visited Oriohhene Primary School, Bolehole, where extensive vandalism was discovered.

“Preliminary assessment revealed that classroom chairs, air-conditioning units, and roofing sheets had been stolen, while parts of the school’s red roof had been vandalized by suspected criminal elements,” the statement said.

Following this, the monitoring team stormed a scrap dump site located at No. 40 Evbienwen Street, Iyaro, Benin City, and recovered vandalised roofing sheets and other items reasonably suspected to have been stolen from public schools.

According to the statement, a suspect, Mr Aniemeka Hilary, 61, a native of Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State and owner of the dump site, was arrested in connection with the recovered items.

It said the suspect, who reportedly regretted his actions, confessed to purchasing vandalised items from unidentified individuals.

It added that the NSCDC State Commandant, Akintayo Saidi Ayinla, condemned the activities of vandals and warned scrap dealers across the state to desist from patronising and encouraging criminal elements through the purchase of suspected stolen items, adding that, “Any individual found aiding, abetting, or benefiting from the destruction of government property will face the full wrath of the law.”