The Kwara State command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has denied involvement of its men arrested by police in alleged siphoning of fuel from leaking Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipeline.

This is just as the state police command said the men were culpable, as they were arrested siphoning fuel from the leaking pipeline.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that there had been an unwholesome development in state security circles, following the arrest of five officers of the NSCDC by men of the state police command, last week Wednesday.

The officers were allegedly caught in uniform siphoning fuel at a pipeline belonging to NNPC on Asa Dam, Ilorin, the state capital.

The suspects were currently in the custody of the state police command, as investigations, according to the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr Femi Fabode, in a telephone chat with the Nigerian Tribune on Sunday, were ongoing.

Fabode had told newsmen in Ilorin, on Friday, that the suspects were hired by the NNPC to keep surveillance on the pipeline, but were caught siphoning the fuel.

He said they were caught around 10.00 p.m, following a tip-off from people around the area.

But the state command of the NSCDC dismissed the arrest, saying the officers were illegally arrested while on duty post.

Spokesman of NSCDC in the state, Mr Olanrewaju Kadir told newsmen that the police acted ultra vires in arresting the officers whom, he said, were “illegally arrested.”

He said the state police command released false information to make the public believe men of the NSCDC were not capable of the task assigned them.