Railway Vandalism: NSCDC Arrests 12 Suspects, Impounds Trucks, Warehouse 

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has said it had impounded two trucks conveying large quantities of stolen railway sleepers, arrested 12 suspected vandals and clamped down on two illegal warehouses with vandalised railway sleepers in the last two weeks.

A statement yesterday by the spokesman of the Corps, Olusola Odumosu, revealed the arrests were made during three separate operations by the Commandant General’s Special Intelligence Squad (CG’s SIS) at Kafanchan, Kwoi Road, Jama’a local government area, Kaduna State; Agwan-Kuje village, Kadarko area in Keana local government area of Nasarawa State and at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp, Keffi-Abuja express way.

Odumosu said following intelligence report, the first five arrest was made, when suspected vandals were loading vandalised and stolen railway sleepers at a bush in Nasarawa.

He said a long open body Man Diesel trailer already loaded with over 500 pieces of vandalised railway sleepers alleged to be owned by the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) was also concealed under sacks of groundnut dust, with a forged copy of the Nigeria Railway scrap delivery paper retrieved from the suspects.
He said in another operation at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp, Keffi-Abuja express way, three suspected vandals were arrested while conveying large quantities of vandalised railway sleepers concealed with rice chaff inside a J5 Boxer Bus.

Odumosu said another four suspected vandals were arrested by the CG’s SIS while loading railway sleepers into an already filled illegal warehouse in Kaduna.
He said acting on a tip-off, the squad immediately swung into action and succeeded in intercepting one white long open body truck fully loaded with large quantities of vandalised rail track irons, covered with a blue trampoline.

The spokesman disclosed that all the arrested suspects and the exhibits were subject to preliminary investigation by the Corps which would help to make further arrest and subsequent prosecution to reduce the rate of critical infrastructural vandalism in the affected territories.