Nigeria Police Force has arrested a suspect for allegedly vandalising rail tracks and stealing the iron in the Northwest and Northcentral parts of the Country.
The police claimed the syndicate was responsible for recent economic sabotage and vandalism of rail tracks in the North-West and North-Central parts of the country.
According to Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO ) CP Frank Mba: “The arrest of the suspects followed deliberate efforts by the Force to contain and a clampdown on perpetrators of recent incidents of rail tracks vandalism, carting away of critical locomotive equipment and other related economic crimes in some parts of the country.
The arrested vandals are among a total of 36 notorious criminal suspects arrested by the Police recently for offences of banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, possession of illegal firearms, cultism, murder, economic sabotage, cybercrime, car snatching, etc.
“The arrests were achieved as a result of sustained nationwide tactical, anti-crime operations by the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) and the Special Tactical Squad (STS) in the ongoing efforts aimed at stemming criminal activities particularly violent crimes in the country.
” Exhibits recovered in the operations include eight AK49 rifles, three AK47 rifles, one locally made rifle, 346 rounds of AK47 live ammunition, 24 live cartridges, 20 AK47 magazines, N1,400,000, Toyota Corolla with registration number RBC 653 AE and ABC 906 AG), one Toyota Camry, one 307 Peugeot with number plate, BWR 920 HK, one 406 Peugeot and one Honda civic.
“The suspects involved in the rail track vandalism, Idris Lawal, 42, Abdullahi Musa, 29, and Usman Umar 22, were arrested following a coordinated intelligence-driven special operation on May,27, which uncovered a warehouse in Gboko LGA of Benue State. A cordon and search operation conducted by the Police operatives on the building revealed different vandalized rail equipment, stolen rail installation racks, weld-shear, rail puller, other rail accessories, and consumables. Further investigations by the Police team led to the interception of three heavy-load trucks along the Ikom-Ibom junction in Cross Rivers State. The trucks were fully loaded with vandalized rail items transported from the warehouse. The investigation is ongoing to identify the destination, the targeted criminal receivers, end-users, and other suspects complicit in the crime.
Similarly, a six-man notorious armed robbery and kidnapping syndicate linked to several violent crimes in the Ondo and Ekiti axis of the South-Western part of the country has been arrested. The arrest followed the trailing and arrest of one 60-year-old Umar Mohammed who has been on the wanted list of the Police for transporting firearms and ammunition on behalf of notorious criminals who have carried out major operations in the South-West States.
” Further investigations by the Police team led to the arrest of five of his gang members – Umar Abubakar, 22, Muhammed Bello, 52, Sale Lawali, 25, Usman Muhammed, 20yrs and Musa Ibrahim, 53yrs, all-male – that utilize the weapons he provided to carry out series of kidnapping and armed robbery operations in the country.
“Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, has expressed confidence that no stone would be left unturned until all public spaces are reclaimed from criminal elements and a comfortable level of public safety and security achieved in all parts of the country. He enjoined citizens to continue to support the Police and the security community as they carry out the tasks of returning our country to the path of peace and security.
“All the suspects will be charged to court on completion of investigations”.
