The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, has arrested four suspected electrical cable vandals in separate operations across Abuja and recovered stolen electrical materials.
The suspects were arrested in Abaji, Kubwa and the Wuye axis of the FCT for alleged vandalism, unlawful possession and trafficking of electrical cables.
The FCT Commandant, Olusola Odumosu, disclosed this while parading the suspects at the Command Headquarters in Wuse Zone 5, Abuja.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSC Monica Ojobi, said the arrests followed intelligence-led operations by the anti-vandal patrol team and other operational units.
Ojobi explained that the first suspect, Mammed Nuhu, 44, from Basari Local Government Area of Katsina State, was arrested around the residential quarters in Abaji over the alleged vandalism, possession and storage of high-tension aluminium conductor cables suspected to have been stolen from critical national assets and infrastructure.
Preliminary investigations reportedly revealed that two other individuals, identified as Saifullah, 33, and Abdulraham, 25, allegedly brought the cables to Nuhu for safekeeping pending their sale to prospective buyers.
The two alleged accomplices are currently at large, while the Command said efforts were ongoing to apprehend them and identify other persons connected to the suspected crime.
Bundles of high-tension aluminium conductor cables suspected to have been removed from installations belonging to the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) were recovered as exhibits.
In another operation, NSCDC operatives attached to the Kubwa Base Station arrested two suspects, 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, over alleged vandalism and unlawful possession of electrical cables at Government Secondary School, Kubwa.
According to Ojobi, the suspects were arrested at about 1 a.m. following reports from commercial motorcycle and tricycle operators about suspicious movements around the school’s perimeter fence.
She said Makama allegedly confessed during interrogation that he gained access to the school through its gate in the evening and cut electrical wires in the building.
The suspect reportedly remained within the premises until midnight before attempting to escape with the materials by climbing the fence, when NSCDC operatives apprehended him.
Further investigations allegedly linked Inuwa to the incident as a prospective buyer. The statement said he had reportedly made an advance payment of ₦35,000 for the cables.
Both suspects allegedly confessed to the crime and disclosed that they had been involved in the business since 2024, according to the Command.
The third case involved the alleged conspiracy, vandalism and theft of armoured cables around Berger Roundabout along the Wuye axis of Abuja.
Ojobi said operatives 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 operatives subsequently apprehended one Suleiman Jafaru over the alleged excavation and theft of armoured cables.
Items recovered from him included armoured cables and two diggers.
Preliminary investigations reportedly indicated that three individuals were involved in the suspected vandalism and removal of the cables. Jafaru allegedly told investigators that he was working with two other persons who escaped during the operation.
The identities and whereabouts of the two alleged accomplices remain unknown, while efforts are ongoing to establish their identities and arrest them.
Reacting to the incidents, Odumosu condemned the vandalism of electrical installations, describing it as an attack on the welfare, safety and economic well-being of FCT residents.
He noted that the cost of replacing stolen cables and repairing damaged installations diverted resources that could otherwise be used to improve electricity services.
“The alleged involvement of receivers and buyers in these cases also highlights a critical dimension of this crime,” he said.
The commandant warned that the NSCDC would pursue not only those who allegedly remove electrical materials but also individuals who knowingly provide a market for stolen electricity infrastructure, thereby encouraging further vandalism.
He reaffirmed the Command’s commitment to sustaining intelligence-led operations, strengthening collaboration with relevant stakeholders and ensuring that anyone found culpable is brought to justice in accordance with due process.
Odumosu also urged residents, community leaders, commercial motorcycle and tricycle operators, traders, scrap-metal dealers and other stakeholders to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities around electricity installations to the appropriate authorities.
