NSCDC officer detained for leaking secret

The Lagos State Command of the Nigeria
Security and Civil Defence Corps has detained an
official, Thomas Ayorinde, for reporting an
alleged deduction of his allowance by a senior
officer of the corps to The PUNCH .
PUNCH Metro had reported on Tuesday that
Ayorinde and 50 others, who were part of a joint
task force constituted by the Lagos State
Government to control gridlock on Apapa-Wharf
Road, were paid N20,000 each for two months
allowance in arrears.


Meanwhile, other agencies, including the air
force, army, and police, paid each of their
officials who participated in the exercise
N90,000, N75,000 and N60,000 respectively for
the same period.
The state government was said to have
earmarked N1,500 daily as allowance for each
operative.
Our correspondent also reported that Ayorinde
was detained for nine days after complaining
about the perceived deduction to the senior
officer, identified simply as Mba.
The state command spokesperson for NSCDC,
Mefor Chibuzor, had rebuffed Ayorinde’s claims,
saying the officials were paid “based on what
the corps received from the state government.”
The report also stated that the affected officials
had petitioned the Office of the Public Defender,
seeking legal assistance to no avail.
Speaking to our correspondent on the telephone
on Tuesday, Ayorinde said he had been locked
up again for reporting the case to The PUNCH.
He said, “I have been put inside cell again. My
bosses said they read the story in The PUNCH
today (Tuesday) and that I would be punished
for speaking with you (The PUNCH) on the
deduction of our allowance.”
Ayomide’s colleague, who did not want his name
in print, confirmed the detention to PUNCH Metro .
He said, “Yes. They have locked him up again.
He was blamed for taking the matter to your
medium.”
When contacted, Chibuzor said he would verify
and get back to our correspondent.
He later said, “No, he (Ayorinde) is not here.”