Juliana Francis
Four suspects, who allegedly stole railway pandrol slippers kept by Chinese Construction Company (CCECC) for construction, were among 15 suspects arrested by the Railway Police Command in the months of July and August 2022.
The four suspects were arrested in Aba, Abia State and they have been identified as Michael Chukwuebuka, Chigozie Augustine, Onyekachi Abba, and Chukwuma Adumoha.
The police said that upon investigation, the stolen items were recovered and handed over to the construction company.
The Railway Police Command has to beef up security around the railway corridors to reduce vandalism and theft of railway infrastructure nationwide.
The Command in the month of July and August arrested 15 suspects for crimes bordering theft, vandalism, and other heinous crime committed in and around the Nigerian Railway Corporation infrastructure.
In Minna, Niger State, three suspects were intercepted by the patrol team of the Railway Police Division upon credible tip-off by members of a vigilante group. The suspects, Hadi Mohammed (42), Abdullahi Mohammed (34), and Abdullahi Shittu (45), were arrested with 32 Railway iron slippers loaded in a saloon car.
Two fleeing suspects- Ridwan Olalekan and Sharafa Muritala, have also been arrested and charged with the court by the Railway Criminal Investigation Department. The suspects were initially spotted in a bush in Akwanga, Nasarawa state, where they vandalized about 72 rail track irons. At the sight of the policemen, the suspect fled the scene and abandoned their truck vehicle. After an intense investigation, the suspects were arrested and charged in court. Both have been remanded in Ikoyi Correctional Centre.
While, the Ilorin division of the Command, Kwara state, also apprehended two suspected vandals- Yahaya Mohammed and Jumai Sule with 113 pandrol clips at Sabongida area of Jebba during a routine patrol; Gombe division also arrested one Bashir Abudullahi who was caught in the act of vandalizing and stealing 58 railway clips.
Two trucks belonging to Dangote Sugar were spotted in Kaduna, loaded with an unspecified amount of Railway irons belonging to the Nigerian Railway Corporation. No suspects have been arrested in connection with the crime, however, the trucks have been moved to safe custody while ongoing investigations.
While the Commissioner of Police, Railway Police Command, CP Yetunde Longe spoke on the beefing-up around the railway corridors and confirming the arrest of suspects, she noted the importance of Citizen-Police partnership in order to bring crime and criminal elements to stand-still
CP Yetunde Longe added that the war against railway vandalism is continuous until the entire Nigerian railroads are free from vandals and criminal elements as perpetrators will be made to face the full wrath of the law.
