Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps NSCDC in its war against railing sleepers theft across the country said it has arrested 13 suspected railway vandals with large quantities of long rails and sleepers worth over N800 million. Director of Public Relations at the NSCDC National Headquarters, Babawale Afolabi, said this in a statement in Abuja. He said that the suspects were arrested by the Commandant General’s Special Intelligence Squad (CGs SIS). He said the suspects were paraded alongside five trucks conveying the large quantities of vandalised rails and sleepers at the NSCDC Headquarters, Abuja on Tuesday. According to him, the arrests took place around Manchock area of Kaura LGA, Zonkwa area in Zango Kataf LGA, and Kafanchan area in Jama’a LGA of Kaduna State.
He said “the 13 suspects and five trucks impounded have been taken into custody for profiling and further investigations and prosecution. The 13 suspects are still being interrogated and cross examined after which other accomplices will be arrested and charged to court”. He said that upon arrest, the CGs SIS were offered a huge sum but they refused to accept the proposed bribe. When they were apprehended the Commander of the squad was offered the sum of N30 million which was rejected,” he said.
According to the PRO, the NSCDC Commandant General, Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi has decried the continuous activities of vandals across the country, promising however that the Corps would not relent in preventing occurrences and arresting perpetrators. He frowned at the yet to be identified iron and steel companies who always process and melt these vandalised rail track iron and sleepers.
“Efforts are in top gear to smash and unmask these syndicates and make them to face the wrath of the law no matter how highly or lowly placed,” he said. North Central District Manager of the Nigeria Railway Corporation, Mr Austin Ashibekong on his part, said the arrests were made within his jurisdiction. I want to confirm to you that these are vandalised long rails that had been cut into pieces and everywhere in the North-Central district is experiencing surge in vandalism of track materials. They vandalise the long rails, the sleepers, android clips and other railway components which has been a major hurt to our management ,” he said.
According to Ashibekong, these materials run into hundreds of millions, bearing in mind that no railway material can be sourced locally. “Even the nuts cannot be sourced locally and all these costs the Federal Government a great deal and somebody will come overnight to vandalise them for selfish and personal interest. These team set up by the CG is a laudable achievement and we are out here to support them”, he said.
