13 Suspects Arrested Over Abuja Rail Vandalism

By Remi Johnson

The Security Company, hired to protect the Abuja Mass Transit Rail Facility, has arrested 13 suspects for vandalising armoured cables and other railway equipment.

10 out of the 13 suspects were casual workers engaged by a Chinese company working on the railways, while the 3 others are buyers of the stolen materials.

Managing Director and Chief Executive of the company, Mr Segun Adekola told officials of the FCTA Transport Secretariat that his company had over the years arrested over 100 suspected vandals.

Parading the suspects, Mr Adekola who said the arrest was made possible following a tip-off and collaboration with relevant stakeholders, said they are ready to intensify vigilance.

He said the suspects would be handed over to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC for further profiling and prosecution.

“We have been working with relevant stakeholders in the discharge of our duties and acting on a tip-off, we were able to effect the arrest of these people and we are ready to do more”.

One of the suspects who simply gave his name as Obadiah said they work with the Chinese company which engaged them to mop up worn out cables, and in the process, they stole some of the cables and other metals which they sold to an unnamed company.

Obadiah who was remorseful over the act that led to his arrest, however told journalists that the N1,100 daily wage from the company was not enough to sustain him.

Also speaking, Director of Operations at the firm, James Chukwu said operatives of the company had gone a step further in arresting buyers of the stolen rail components.

“You can see so many of them behind me, about 13 of them who were involved in the vandalism. We have about 10 vandals while the others are buyers.
We are the outsourced security company charged with the responsibility of protecting Abuja railway lines. We cover several railway stations and we also cover the railway tracks to avoid the issue of vandalism of materials”.

He said the Chinese company had been contacted and were cooperating with the ongoing investigations.

Edited By Grace Namiji