- Four suspects have been taken into custody for further investigations and action in connection with the stolen materials
- The rail track irons and sleepers were loaded in Makurdi, Benue State to an undisclosed iron and steel company in Ilorin
A band of scavengers who specializes in destroying and stealing rail tracks have been arrested by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
This is as the Commandant General’s Special Intelligence Squad (CG’s SIS) of the NSCDC intercepted an articulated DAF truck conveying large quantities of the vandalized rail track iron concealed inside iron scrap.
This was disclosed by the NSCDC spokesman, Babawale Afolabi, in a statement in Abuja on Thursday.
According to Afolabi, preliminary investigation showed that the rail track irons and sleepers were loaded in Makurdi, Benue State to an undisclosed iron and steel company in Ilorin, Kwara State before they were intercepted and arrested.
He said four suspects have been taken into custody for further investigations and action in connection with the stolen materials.
“On 14th of August, 2023, at about 1030hrs, the CG’s Special Intelligence Squad, who was on a specialized operation to checkmate nefarious activities of rail line vandals, arrested four suspected vandals who disguised as scavengers.
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“It was later discovered that the suspects have vandalized rail track irons and concealed them inside scrap iron materials before loading the vandalized rail track irons into a truck that will convey them to the buyers,” Babawale said.
He said the truck and the four suspects were intercepted along the Lafia-Akwanga-Abuja expressway, Sabon Pagi, Lafia Nasarawa State on Monday.
The four suspected vandals are 27 years old Anasi Ali who is the driver of the truck. Others are Yusuf Idris, 25; Hafis Idris, 18; and Nasiru Abdullahi, 28 who served as an escort.
“Items recovered from the vandals are a DAF truck, large quantities of offloaded scrap irons, and large quantities of vandalized railways irons,” Babawale added.