By MOSES OMOROGIEVA

No fewer than 15 suspected railway vandals have been arrested across the country by the Railway Police Command in the last two months.

This is contained in a statement by the Commissioner of Police in charge of Railway Command, Mrs. Yetunde Longe, on Tuesday in Lagos.

Longe said that the suspected vandals were arrested in different parts of the country in July and August, respectively.

She said that their arrests followed the command’s increased surveillance around the railway corridors in its effort to reduce vandalism and theft of railway infrastructure nationwide.

The Commissioner disclosed that the command had, earlier in May and June, arrested 13 suspects for alleged crimes bordering on theft, vandalism and other heinous crimes committed in and around infrastructure belonging to the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).

She said that the Railway Police Division patrol team intercepted and arrested three suspected vandals in Minna, Niger, after a tip off by some members of a vigilance group.

The CP said that the suspects: Hadi Mohammed, 42; Abdullahi Mohammed,34; and Abdullahi Shittu, 45, were arrested with 32 railway iron slippers loaded in a saloon car.

The commissioner said that in Aba, four suspects: Michael Chukwuebuka, Chigozie Augustine, Onyekachi Abba, and Chukwuma Adumoha, were arrested in connection with the theft of railway pandrol slippers kept by the Chinese Construction Company (CCECC) for construction.

She said that the stolen but later recovered items were handed over to the construction company, after the command had concluded its investigation.

The police boss also disclosed that two fleeing suspects – Ridwan Olalekan and Sharafa Muritala, were arrested and charged to court by the Railway Criminal Investigation Department.

She said that the suspects were initially spotted in a bush in Akwanga in Nasarawa State where they vandalised about 72 rail track irons.

“At the sight of the policemen, the suspects fled the scene and abandoned their truck. After intense investigation, the suspects were arrested and charged to court. Both had been remanded at Ikoyi Correctional Centre, Lagos,” she said.

Longe said that the Ilorin division of the command during a routine patrol also apprehended two suspected vandals:Yahaya Mohammed and Jumai Sule, with 113 pandrol clips at Sabongida area of Jebba.

She said that in the Gombe division, one Bashir Abudullahi was arrested for vandalism and theft of 58 railway clips.

Within the period under review, Longe said that two trucks belonging to Dangote Sugar were spotted in Kaduna, loaded with unspecified amount of railway irons belonging to the Nigerian Railway Corporation.

According to her, no suspects have been arrested in connection with the crime, stressing, however, that the trucks had been moved to a safe custody, while investigations were ongoing.

The Commissioner sued for the cooperation of the public in crime- fighting, saying the importance of Citizen-Police Partnership could not be over emphasised.

She added that the war against railway vandalism would be continuous until the entire Nigerian rail roads were free from vandals and criminal elements.

She warned that perpetrators would be made to face the full wrath of the law. (NAN)

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