No fewer than seven suspected electric cable vandals have been arrested and paraded by the Kwara State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC).
This was made known by the state Commandant of the NSCDC, Umar J.G Mohammed, in a statement by the spokesman of the civil defense corps, Ayeni Olasunkanmi, in Ilorin.
Mohammed, who said the suspects were caught with vandalised electric cables, identified them as Awal Issa (18) Ibrahim Musa (19) Ibrahim Mohammed (15) Yau Yahaya (19) Aliu Abubakar (24) Sulaiman Abubakar (18) and Musa Adisa (21).
Also, Yau Yahaya and Musa Ibrahim, a scrap dealer at Tanke Oke Odo area, Ilorin, were alleged to have stolen electric cables at Jalala Quarters of University of Ilorin.
The suspect led the patrol to the scrap dealers’ spot at Oke Odo area, at Tanke area where the other five suspects were apprehended.
He condemned the rate at which government facilities were being vandalised, saying it is alarming and disturbing.
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“In almost all our cities and towns, public facilities which are provided by government were being vandalized by unscrupulous people as soon they have been installed,” he said.
Similarly, the Kogi State Command, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has paraded one Sunday Yomi Komolafe, 38 years, for allegedly vandalising a transformer in Isanlu, Yagba East Local Government Area of the state.
Parading the suspect on Wednesday, the Kogi State Commandant of NSCDC, Ahmad Ghandi Ahmad told journalists that the suspect was caught by men of a vigilante group while vandalising the armoured cable of the transformer supplying electricity to Amuro and seven other communities in Mopa LGA.
He said the suspect confessed to committing the crime and would be charged to court upon completion of investigation.
The commandant appealed for more collaboration with the public on information that could rid the state of criminal elements.
Speaking during an interview, the suspect, Sunday Yomi Komolafe, a motorcycle mechanic, pleaded for leniency stressing that he planned to sell the vandalised materials to scavengers.
He said the 35 litre of petrol in plastic containers found with him were to be used to clean up his hands after cutting the cables.