The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has arrested 12 suspected vandals and impounded two trucks conveying stolen railway sleepers.
This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by NSCDC Director, Public Relations Commandant, Olusola Odumosu.
Odumosu said that the Corps had also clamped down on two illegal warehouses with large quantity of vandalised railway sleepers.
He said that the arrests were made within two weeks during three separate operations by the Commandant General’s Special Intelligence Squad (CG’s SIS).
“The arrests were made at Kafanchan- Kwoi Road, Kaduna State and Agwan-Kuje village, Nasarawa and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp, Keffi- Abuja express way,” Odumosu said.
According to him, following its intelligence report, the squad arrested the vandals when they were loading vandalised and stolen railway sleepers at a bush in Nasarawa.
“A long open trailer already loaded with over 500 pieces of vandalised railway sleepers alleged to be owned by the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) was also concealed under sacks of groundnut dust.
“Retrieved from the suspects was a forged copy of the NRC scrap delivering paper,” he said.
The corps spokesman further stated that three suspected vandals were arrested while conveying large quantity of vandalised railway sleepers concealed with rice chaff inside a bus along Keffi-Abuja Expressway.
Odumosu said that four suspected vandals were also arrested by the squad while loading railway sleepers into an already filled illegal warehouse in Kaduna.
“Acting on intelligence tip-off, the squad succeeded in intercepting another long open body truck fully loaded with large quantity of vandalised rail track irons, covered with a blue trampoline,” he said.
He said that all the arrested suspects and exhibits were subject to preliminary investigation which would aid in further arrest.
He urged citizens to continually provide useful information that would help in the arrest of vandals across the country.
According to him, this will reduce the rate of critical infrastructural vandalism in the country.
Odumosu warned persons with criminal intent of robbing the nation of its asset to desist as the corps would not spare anyone found guilty of such criminality.
