The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps has sealed facilities belonging to two Chinese companies, Inner Galaxy Steel Company and Jiuxing Integrity Industrial Ltd, over alleged involvement in railway infrastructure theft.
The corps said the action followed the discovery of what it described as a sophisticated syndicate involved in vandalising critical national assets across the country.
In a statement issued on Monday, NSCDC spokesman, Afolabi Babawale, said the agency secured a court order to shut down all branches of the companies nationwide.
According to him, suspects linked to the firms are being investigated for conspiracy, theft, destruction of railway infrastructure, concealment of stolen property and alleged financing of terrorism.
Babawale disclosed that operatives of the Commandant General’s Special Intelligence Squad stormed one of the firms’ facilities in Kaduna State with search warrants and court orders.
He said railway tracks and sleepers recovered during the operation were handed over to the Nigerian Railway Corporation as exhibits for prosecution.
“Confessions from arrested staff revealed a coordinated network where vandalised railway materials were transported to company facilities for melting and recycling into products such as roofing sheets and nails,” he said.
The NSCDC added that the closure order also affected facilities in Abia and Zamfara states, while Chinese nationals linked to the firms had been summoned for questioning.
Commandant General of the corps, Ahmed Abubakar Audi, warned that all those found culpable would face prosecution.
He reaffirmed the corps’ commitment to tackling infrastructure vandalism and protecting critical national assets across the country.
