The Imo State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps has arrested three vandals, accusing them of specialising in vandalising power cables.
The corps gave the name of the arrested suspects as Mustapha Ahmed from Kaduna State; Alfred Bonza from Plateau State; and Abel Luka, also from Plateau State.
The state Commandant of the NSCDC, Mr Raji Ibrahim, during a parade of the suspects at the state command headquarters, alleged that they regularly cut cables belonging to the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company and sold them to buyers.
The suspects were said to have been arrested by the NSCDC operatives on Friday, at their respective residences on Nwankwo Kanu Estate, off Egbu Road, Owerri, following a tip-off.
Ibrahim said the cables were stolen from the transformers on the estate.
He added that owing to vandalism of power cables, the estate and its environs had been kept in darkness for many months.
“The operatives of the corps arrested the trio on August 5, 2018, following a tip-off and they have been in the custody of the corps for proper investigation. We found out that the vandals vandalised the cables for sale,” the commandant added.
He called on the public to supply the corps with useful information, adding that the corps operatives could not achieve much without useful information from the public.
He said the NSCDC officers and men would not relent in fighting civil crime in the state.
“The men under my care are ready to bring crime to its lowest ebb in the state. I say this because it was based on that mandate that the NSCDC was established.
“We are not going to rest on our oars to ensure that the mandate for which the corps was established is achieved. The arrest of the three suspects will serve as a deterrent to other vandals in the state.”
Luka confessed to the crime, saying he and the other suspects were security guards on the estate.
He said, “We are not the people who actually cut the cables; but when they cut, we receive the cables from them and sell them to buyers.”
Luka, who stated that his gang had been into the illicit business for some time, explained that he engaged in it to make more money as what he made from the guard job was not enough.
He pleaded with the corps commandant to be merciful, adding that they would not indulge in the act again.
