There has been rising tension and anxiety in the Bayelsa State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) over the sudden disappearance of the Deputy Commandant of the corps, Mr Raymond Terwase Gaadi.
Gaadi, who was posted from Enugu command of the corps to Bayelsa to take over as the second in command on April, was said to have issues with the person that was supposed to hand over to him.
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The fears within the command and the family is that if the senior officer is still alive as his phone numbers were switched off after he got missing.
Narrating the family’s ordeal, his elder brother, Mr. Terkura Gaadi, said since after missing his brother (Raymond’s) calls on October 22, 2022, he has been unable to reach him as his phones rang until October 30, 2022 when all the lines were switched off.
As at the time of filling the report, it was not ascertained if the NSCDC officer was kidnapped, involved in an auto accident or fell victim of rampaging flood that was at the peak during the time of his disappearance.
He said: “He was transferred from Enugu and he resumed work in Bayelsa in April, he was in the state until he got missing on October. He visited me in May and informed me that he has resumed in his new posting.
“Actually, he called me on October 22, around 6pm, but I missed his calls, when I called back, I did not get any response from him, so it was around October 30 that his phones were totally switched off, that was when we started sending that something must have happened to him.
“I have personally spoken with NSCDC Commandant in Bayelsa State and she told me that there are making efforts to find him.
“When he visited in May, he told me that he had problem, that when he resumed in Bayelsa State Command, somebody was refusing to hand over to him, he told me that in confidence, we have already written to the Inspector General of Police and Commandant General of NSCDC, they should find the whereabouts of our brother who came to serve the nation in Bayelsa State. We want to see him alive.”
Authorities of NSCDC in Bayelsa, said they were investigating the circumstances leading to the disappearance of the Deputy Commandant, as he was given pass to travel to his former command in Enugu to pack his loads.
The NSCDC spokesman in Bayelsa State, Mr Solomon Ogbere, said the command is working with other sister agencies to unravel the circumstances of the sudden disappearance.
He also dispelled insinuation that somebody was refusing to hand over the Deputy Commandant’s portfolio to Mr Gaadi, saying he was in crisis management section when he was appointed as Second in Command of Bayelsa.
He said: “He told the State Commandant that he was traveling to Enugu to carry his loads to Benue state, he was given pass, he left and up till now, we’ve not heard anything from him.
“We have called the Sector Commander of FRSC to contact his Enugu colleague, because we learnt there was an accident along that axis, for them to help us check the persons that was involved, if our personnel was among, so that we can no what to do, because his numbers are not going through, we are also very worried.
“He did not travel with any detail attached to him, he was not even supposed to travel to Enugu without his car, we have already communicated to the national headquarters and we are doing everything possible to find him, because he is a friend of all, he is very humble and nice person,” Ogbere said.
