Four suspected railtrack vandals have been intercepted by a special squad of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Squad, ( NSCDC), known as the Commandant General’s Special Intelligence Squad, ( CG’s SIS), conveying large quantities of vandalized rail track iron concealed inside iron scrap in an articulated DAF truck, in Nasarawa state.
In announcing the arrest in a communique signed by the NSCDC National Public Relations Officer, (PRO), Babawale Afolabi, in Abuja, the agency said the four suspects have been taken into custody for further investigations and action.
The statement reads, “On August 14, 2023, about 1030hrs, the CG’s Special Intelligence Squad, who are on specialized operation to checkmate nefarious activities of rail line vandals, arrested four suspected vandals who disguised themselves as scavengers.
“It was later discovered that the suspects have vandalized rail track irons and concealed them inside scrap iron materials before loading the vandalized rail track irons into a truck that will convey them to the buyers.”
The communique contains that the suspects were intercepted along Lafia-Akwanga–Abuja expressway, Sabon Pagi, Lafia, Nasarawa State.
“Details of the truck was given as an articulated DAF truck with registration number BSA 899XA and the four suspected vandals are 27-year-old Anasi Ali who is the driver of the truck, Yusuf Idris, 25, Hafis Idris, 18 and Nasiru Abdullahi, 28 who served as escort.
“Items recovered from the vandals are; a DAF truck, large quantities of offloaded scrap irons and large quantities of vandalized railways irons,” the statement contains.
The agency said preliminary investigation revealed that the vandals loaded the rail truck irons and slippers in Makurdi, Benue State and concealed it inside scrap irons to disguise it as scraps and were taking the vandalized products to an undisclosed iron and steel company in Ilorin, Kwara State, before they were intercepted and arrested.
Meanwhile, Commandant General, NSCDC, Dr. Ahmed Audi, has ordered a full scale investigation into the issues, after which the suspects will be charged to court.
