The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Federal Capital Territory Command, has confirmed the arrest of five persons who have been suspected to be into the act of vandalism in the FCT.The arrests were made in different operations in the nations capital.
The arrest was made public in a statement released by the spokesperson, Samuel Idoko, on Wednesday. He noted that two of the suspects, who he named as Uleiman Ibrahim (17) and Abubakar Zakari (22), both hail from Kanu state. He noted that they were arrested by the Critical National Assets and Infrastructure Department at the Wuse Market area during a routine patrol.
The spokesperson noted that the suspects were found with iron poles they had allegedly stolen from the Arts and Culture Complex in Area 10, Garki. The suspect, according to the NSCDC, was taking the poles to the area where they would be sold before they were intercepted and taken into custody.
He listed the items as electronic billboards, two solar batteries, a gas cylinder, a generator set, a refrigerator gas cylinder, an iron hammer, a large pair of iron scissors, an air conditioner gas pipe, an Abuja vehicle plate number, two iron pinches, a machete, and two plastic drums.
He disclosed that an initial investigation by the command had shown that the suspects were part of a larger criminal syndicate, which had been in the act of stealing from the public and vandalising public infrastructure and household items.
He explained that it was also discovered that the buyers had been visiting the market at night with trucks to take the stolen items to an unknown destination after paying the vandals.
The FCT Commandant, Dr Olusola Odumosu, while responding on the issue, noted that it was important to regulate the market of pantaker in the FCT; he noted that it was the hotspot for the activities of criminals in the nation’s capital.
He explained that if the FCT must rid the activities of scavengers and vandals who are sabotaging the government’s efforts on infrastructural development, then, there is an urgent need to regulate pantaker markets in the Federal Capital Territory.
He also noted that a majority of the stolen items from public places end up in the hands of buyers who frequent the markets, making the issue of vandalism in the capital worse.
The commandant noted that most of the items that were gotten from the road and railway corridors, including household items as well as electrical installations, find their way into the hands of waiting buyers at the pantaker markets, and this has become increasingly worrisome.
The NSCDC further expressed its commitment to sustaining the fight against the issues of vandalism in the nation’s capital.
