Troops of the 4 Special Forces of the Nigerian Army, Nasarawa State, have arrested three suspected railway vandals in the Kwarra community of the Keana Local Government Area of the state.
The acting Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 4 Special Forces Command, Doma, Maj. Joseph Afolasade, in a news briefing on Monday, explained that on August 5, 2023, at about 11 pm, troops of the command intercepted the vandals during a routine patrol.
He said, “The suspects were arrested with a large quantity of railway parts loaded in a truck with registration number DED 364 YC.”
He added that the suspects claimed they were deceived by their sponsors, who are still on the run.
Preliminary investigations, according to him, revealed that the driver of the truck, Chibuki Akubilo, was contacted to convey the vandalised railway parts to Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, for N1.6 million.
He further said that Maj. Gen. Hillary Nzan, the Commander of the Special Forces, had approved the handing over of the suspects to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, for further investigation and prosecution.
Mr Jerry Victor, the NSCDC Public Relations Officer, while responding, expressed gratitude to the Army for collaborating with the corps to tackle insecurity in the state, assuring that that type of crime is being committed by a syndicate.
He also assured that further investigation would be carried out with the view of arresting other members of the group for prosecution.
The driver of the truck confessed to newsmen that one Mr Charles contacted him to convey the items to Ilorin.