The Enugu State Police Command has arrested five suspects in three separate operations over the alleged vandalism and theft of public infrastructure, including a solar street light, road traffic signs and materials belonging to the Enugu State Water Corporation.
The Command’s spokesperson, SP Daniel Ndukwe, disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
According to the statement, the first arrests were made on September 27, 2026, at about 8:30 p.m. Acting on a tip-off, operatives from the New Haven Division arrested two men, Wisdom Nuhu and Moses Jonathan, who were allegedly negotiating the sale of a suspected stolen solar street light at a scrap dump in New Artisan Market, Enugu.
The stolen light was recovered. The suspects reportedly confessed during interrogation that they had vandalised and stolen it earlier that day at Graceland Estate, Independence Layout, Enugu.
In a separate incident on September 24, 2026, at about 3:34 a.m., operatives of the Abakaliki Road Police Division responded to a distress alert from the Enugu State Command-and-Control Centre and arrested Chukwudi Nwigbo, 35, along Abakaliki Road, GRA, Enugu. Police said Nwigbo and an accomplice, who escaped, were detected by the security surveillance system while removing road traffic signs. Several vandalised road signs bearing different inscriptions were recovered from him.
In a third operation on September 15, 2026, operatives of the Command’s Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU), working with members of the Neighbourhood Watch Group, arrested two male suspects, Zubairu Hamanpedimso, 31, and Mohamed Adamu, 21.
They were arrested for allegedly conspiring to vandalise and steal materials belonging to the Enugu State Water Corporation. A bag containing iron materials, bolts and nuts, allegedly stolen from the Corporation, was recovered from them.
The police said all the suspects have been arraigned in court and remanded in correctional custody pending further hearing, while efforts are ongoing to arrest other accomplices still at large.
Commissioner of Police, CP Mamman Bitrus Giwa, commended the operatives and the Neighbourhood Watch members for their prompt response, which led to the arrests and the recovery of the vandalised and stolen items.
He urged members of the public to continue providing timely and credible information on activities that could undermine public assets and security.
