The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, has paraded four suspected electrical cable vandals arrested in separate operations across Abuja.
The suspects were arrested in Abaji, Kubwa and the Wuye axis of the FCT over alleged vandalism, unlawful possession and trafficking of electrical cables, including armoured cables and high-tension aluminium conductors.
The FCT Commandant of the NSCDC, Olusola Odumosu, disclosed this while parading the suspects at the command headquarters in Wuse Zone 5, Abuja.
According to Odumosu, the arrests followed intelligence-led operations by the command’s anti-vandal teams and its Critical National Assets and Infrastructure Department.
In the first case, operatives arrested a 44-year-old man, identified as Mammed Nuhu, from Basari Local Government Area of Katsina State, around the residential quarters in Abaji Area Council.
The command said the suspect was arrested over the alleged vandalism, possession and storage of high-tension aluminium conductor cables suspected to have been removed from electricity installations belonging to the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).
Preliminary investigations reportedly revealed that two other individuals, identified only as Saifullah, 33, and Abdulraham, 25, had allegedly brought the cables to Nuhu for safekeeping pending their sale to prospective buyers.
The two individuals are reportedly at large, while the command said efforts were ongoing to apprehend them and identify other persons connected to the alleged crime.
Bundles of high-tension aluminium conductor cables suspected to have been vandalised from AEDC installations were recovered as exhibits.
In a separate operation, NSCDC operatives attached to the Kubwa base station arrested two men, identified as Amos Makama, 27, from Kokona Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, and Ibrahim Mohammed Maitama Inuwa, 27, from Dala Local Government Area of Kano State.
The two suspects were arrested over alleged vandalism and unlawful possession of electrical cables at Government Secondary School, Kubwa.
The command said the arrest was made at about 1 a.m. following reports from commercial motorcycle and tricycle operators in the area about suspicious movements around the school’s perimeter fence.
During interrogation, Makama allegedly confessed to gaining access to the school through its gate in the evening, where he cut electrical wires inside a building.
He reportedly said he remained within the premises until midnight before attempting to escape by climbing the fence with the stolen materials, when NSCDC operatives apprehended him.
The suspect allegedly disclosed that he had contacted Inuwa to purchase the cables and that the latter had made an advance payment of N35,000.
The command said both suspects confessed to their involvement in the alleged crime and claimed to have been engaged in the business since 2024.
In the third case, NSCDC operatives arrested a suspected armoured cable vandal near Berger Roundabout along the Wuye axis of Abuja.
Odumosu said officers of the command’s Critical National Assets and Infrastructure Department were on routine patrol at about 10:30 p.m. when members of a local vigilante group alerted them to suspicious activities in the area.
The suspect, identified as Suleiman Jafaru, was allegedly caught excavating and removing armoured cables from a roadside location.
According to the command, preliminary investigations indicated that three individuals were allegedly involved in the operation, but two escaped before they could be apprehended.
The identities and whereabouts of the two suspected accomplices remain unknown, while efforts are ongoing to establish their involvement and bring them to justice.
Reacting to the arrests, Odumosu condemned the alleged vandalism of electrical installations, describing it as a threat to the welfare, safety and economic well-being of residents of the FCT.
He said the activities of cable vandals disrupt essential services and impose additional costs on electricity distribution companies and the public.
“The cost of replacing stolen cables and repairing damaged installations also diverts resources that could otherwise be invested in improving electricity services. The alleged involvement of receivers and buyers in these cases also highlights a critical dimension of this crime,” he said.
The commandant reiterated the NSCDC’s commitment to pursuing not only those who allegedly remove electrical materials but also individuals who knowingly purchase or provide a market for stolen cables.
He added that the command would sustain intelligence-led operations, strengthen collaboration with relevant stakeholders and ensure that suspects were dealt with in accordance with due process.
Odumosu urged residents, community leaders, commercial motorcycle and tricycle operators, traders and scrap-metal dealers to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities around electricity installations to the appropriate authorities.