By Jelili Gbadamosi
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has dealt a major blow to infrastructure vandals with the arrest of four suspects linked to the theft and destruction of critical government assets across Abuja.
The suspects were apprehended during intelligence-led operations that led to the recovery of stolen drainage covers, solar-powered street lights, armoured high-voltage electricity cables and internet communication cables valued at millions of naira.
Addressing journalists on Friday in Abuja, the Commissioner of Police, CP Ahmed Muhammed Sanusi, described infrastructure vandalism as a serious threat to public safety and national development, warning that the command would sustain its offensive against criminal networks targeting government facilities.
He said the activities of the suspects had left several parts of the FCT vulnerable by creating hazardous roads, exposing pedestrians and motorists to accidents, disrupting electricity supply, and plunging communities into darkness, thereby increasing the risk of street crimes.
According to the police chief, the coordinated operations were carried out in Maitama, Garki, Durumi, Jabi, Apo Legislative Quarters, Lugbe and Nyanya, where the suspects were tracked and arrested.
Those identified by the command are Godwin Aja, Mustapha Nasiru, Ibrahim Garba, Abdulrasheed Sale and Dabarani Mujitafa.
Sanusi also issued a stern warning to scrap dealers, middlemen and other buyers of stolen government property, saying the police had launched an expanded investigation to dismantle the entire criminal supply chain behind infrastructure vandalism in the Federal Capital Territory.
“We have commenced extensive investigations and will not relent until every link in the supply, distribution and disposal chain of these stolen public assets is identified and brought to justice,” the commissioner said.
Following the operation, all recovered items were handed over to the Director of Facility Maintenance of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), while investigations continue to identify other members of the suspected syndicate.
