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From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command has arrested two suspected vandals of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) high tension cables in the Kwali Area Council of FCT.
The arrest was made by the FCT Command Anti Vandal operatives at the Kwali Division of the FCT, following an intelligence report from vigilance members who alerted the division of the activities of the suspects.
The suspects are Mustapha Yusuf, male, 40 years old, from Toto Local Government, Nasarawa State, and Usman Mohammed, male, 50 years old from Lapai Local Government Area of Niger State.
Upon their arrest and interrogation, one of the suspects, Mustapha Yusuf, revealed that they were a gang of three who were involved in the vandalism and that two of the other suspects were at large, adding that he intended to sell the vandalised cables to a buyer at Gwagwalada.
He confessed further that he has been involved in vandalism of AEDC Cables three times before his arrest by men of the FCT Command, stating that the vandalised items are usually sold to a buyer who measures the cables in scales and that his boss who is currently at large, pays him N4,000 to N5,000 after every successful operation.
The second suspect, Mohammed Usman, who claimed to be a professional driver, confessed during interrogation that, he vandalised the cables with one of his accomplices, Biyu, aided by one security officer, name withheld serving in Gwagwalada who gives them cover.
He disclosed also that he normally sells the stolen cables to a buyer who pays him 50,000, adding that he has been engaged in three successful vandalism and theft of cables and was apprehended during the fourth operation.
The suspects were alleged to be operating as members of a syndicate group involved in cable vandalism within and outside the FCT.
Interrogations further revealed that the suspects were working for an individual named Titus, who is currently at large.
In a statement, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the corps, Monica Ojobi, said that exhibits recovered from the suspects are four rolls of high tension electric cables.
However, she said that investigation is still ongoing to identify the whereabouts of the principal suspect, named Titus, as well as the possible involvement of other members of the syndicate.
Meanwhile, the FCT Commandant, Dr Olusola Odumosu, has expressed satisfaction with the development and has reiterated his stance on zero tolerance to vandalism of Critical National Assets and Infrastructure (CNAI) in the FCT, reassuring that the corps will not rest on its oars until the criminals are rooted out and prosecuted according to the law.
Odumosu, who urged the FCT residents to always provide the corps with intelligence information to help the corps nip vandalism in the bud, further directed the Intelligence and CNAI covert officers to launch a full-scale manhaunt against the suspects who are currently at large and smoke them out.
The FCT boss who described the vandalism act as economic sabotage, frowned at the total darkness it has thrown the people of Kwali Area Council into and assured that he will not leave any stone unturned to ensure that those at large are arrested and when found culpable of the crime, are made to face the full weight of the law.
