13 Railway Vandals Arrested

Segad Security and Protection Company, a private company enlisted to secure the Abuja rail mass transit, has arrested 13 suspects for allegedly vandalising armoured cables and other railway equipment.

Gatekeepers News reports that Segun Adekola, Managing Director of the security company, alongside officials of the transport secretariat of the FCT paraded the suspects before journalists in Abuja on Friday.

Adekola said 10 of the suspects were vandals while the three others were buyers of the vandalised equipment.

He expressed regret that some of the 100 suspected vandals the company had arrested over the years were released on bail and that they went back to the crime.

“We have been working with relevant stakeholders in the discharge of our duties and acting on tip-offs. We were able arrest recalcitrant vandals,” Adekola said.

“The 13 suspects will be handed over to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps for further profiling and prosecution.”

James Chukwu, the company’s director of operations, said the Chinese company handling the rail rehabilitation project has been contacted and helping with the investigation.

Chukwu added that one of the suspects said the Chinese company engaged them to remove worn-out cables.

He said the suspect admitted that in the course of discharging the function, they helped themselves to some of the cables and other metals, which they sold to unidentified companies.

He added that the suspect also told the security company that they resorted to self-help because the N1,100 daily wage paid by their employer was not enough for sustenance.