IPMAN had accused personnel of the Corps of aiding and abetting vandals and oil thieves to carry out illegal activities in the state.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) says it has set up an investigative panel to probe some officials for allegedly extorting members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).
IPMAN had accused personnel of the Corps of aiding and abetting vandals and oil thieves to carry out illegal activities in the state.
In a video exclusively published by SaharaReporters, two operatives of the NSCDC were seen counting bulks of money in the office of one of their victims.
The video shows two armed officers negotiating and demanding money from a female oil marketer.
In what looked like a tense mood, the female oil marketer brought out a huge amount of money from the drawer and a handbag and handed some money over to the two NSCDC officers, who from time to time checked the door for possible intruders.
The officers thereafter tucked the cash in a big brown envelope before leaving the office.
NSCDC spokesperson, Olusola Odumosu in a statement on Monday, said the agency will adopt its internal disciplinary mechanism to address the situation and bring the perpetrators to justice.
The statement read, “Following the viral CCTV captured video of exploitation subsequent to a publication by an online media about some personnel of the Corps allegedly exposed while extorting money from an Independent Petroleum Marketer in Rivers State, the Corps has set up an Investigative/Disciplinary Panel to deal with the situation.
“Reacting to the viral video, the NSCDC Commandant General, Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi, mni, said this is going to be the last time any member of this service will be involved in such heinous crime, enough is enough.”
Quoting the NSCDC boss, the statement read further, “I will make scapegoats out of these bad elements within the system to serve as a deterrent to others like them, if what is seen in that video is correct.
"The Corps is out leading the fight against oil theft and illegal oil bunkering and some bad eggs within the service are out there sabotaging our efforts, giving us bad name and image.
"Only last week, I read the 'Riot Act' to all heads of Anti-vandal unit in the Niger Delta region, this time around, I will make sure that anyone dragging our name in the mud is shown the way out.
"I have given the Investigative committee only one week to authenticate the video and submit their report which we shall act on with immediate alacrity.
"The Corps has in place internal disciplinary mechanism that usually regulate the conducts of personnel and anybody found wanting will be dealt with accordingly.
"The terms of reference of the Investigative panel is to conduct a forensic examination of the trending video without prejudice, with a view to identifying those captured by the camera.
"They are also to recommend commensurate punitive action for the Infringement committed in accordance with Public Service Rules.
"The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps will never tolerate any acts or conducts capable of jeopardizing public interest as well as its mandate of safeguarding all Critical National Assets and Infrastructure in the country.
"Any officer caught in violation of the Corps Standard Operating Procedure and Code of Ethics would be decisively dealt with irrespective of rank, status or nativity.
"Only few days ago, we commissioned 8 gunboats in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to wage a full scale war against oil theft and illegal bunkering and we will not be deterred from protecting our commonwealth and improving government's revenue in this sector.”