The Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), FCT Command, Dr. Olusola Odumosu has stressed that the consequences of infrastructure vandalism extend beyond the immediate loss of stolen materials, noting that damaged electricity installations disrupt communities, undermine business activities and increase the cost of providing essential services. He noted that small businesses, artisans, healthcare facilities and educational institutions are particularly vulnerable to the effects of electricity disruptions, while the cost of replacing vandalised cables and repairing damaged installations places additional pressure on resources that could otherwise be deployed to improve electricity services. He also warned that tampering with electrical installations exposes perpetrators and unsuspecting members of the public to electrocution, fires and other potentially fatal hazards.
The Commandant made this known during a press briefing where he announced the arrest of four suspected cable vandals and individuals allegedly connected with the trafficking of stolen electrical materials in three separate operations across Abaji, Kubwa and Wuye areas of Abuja. The latest operations, according to Odumosu, came about a week after the Command paraded suspected Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) cable vandals arrested in Kwali Area Council, underscoring the Corps’ renewed drive to protect Critical National Assets and Infrastructure (CNAI) across the FCT Abuja.
In the first case, NSCDC anti-vandal patrol operatives, acting on credible intelligence and sustained surveillance, arrested a 44-year-old man, identified as Mammud Nuhu, from Basari Local Government Area of Katsina State, around the residential quarters in Abaji Area Council over the alleged unlawful possession and storage of high-tension aluminium conductor cables suspected to have been removed from electricity infrastructure. The recovered exhibits included bundles of high-tension aluminium conductor cables suspected to have been vandalised from AEDC installations in Abaji. Preliminary investigations indicated that the principal suspect identified two other individuals, Saifullah, 32, and Abdulrahman, 25, who brought the cables to him for safekeeping pending their sale to prospective buyers. The Commandant said the two alleged accomplices remained at large as efforts continued to establish their whereabouts.
Further, in the second case, two suspects were arrested over alleged cable vandalism in Kubwa. The NSCDC operatives attached to the Kubwa Base Station arrested the two, 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 the alleged vandalism and possession of electrical cables at Government Secondary School, Kubwa, popularly known as Black and White Secondary School. The incident occurred at about 1 a.m. on Saturday, October 17, 2026, following reports of suspicious movements around the school’s perimeter fence by commercial motorcyclists and tricycle operators who regularly operate in the area. A subsequent search reportedly led to the recovery of approximately 38 rolls of electrical installation cables, cut pieces of power cables concealed in a large sack, a pair of pliers, a screwdriver and other items suspected to have been used in the operation.
Odumosu disclosed that NSCDC operatives posed as persons offering the materials for sale, in order to arrest Inuwa, the suspected buyer, who had made an advance payment of ₦35,000 for the cables. He was accosted when he arrived at the agreed meeting point.
In the third case, a 20-year-old man, Suleiman Jafaru, from Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, was arrested on October 20, 2026, near Berger Roundabout along the Wuye axis of Abuja over alleged criminal conspiracy, vandalism and theft of armoured cables. While on routine patrol, the operatives of FCT Command’s Critical National Assets and Infrastructure Department were alerted by members of a local vigilante group to suspicious activities involving some individuals at about 10:30 p.m. The information led to Jafaru’s arrest at the scene, where he was allegedly removing armoured cables from the roadside. The digger he was using alongside the armoured cables were recovered as exhibits. Two accomplices fled the scene of the incident before the arrest. Efforts are ongoing to establish their identities and whereabouts, while Jafaru has been interrogated, profiled with his statement obtained after the administration of the requisite cautionary words. He was subsequently granted administrative bail.
Odumosu reaffirmed the Command’s commitment to sustaining intelligence-led operations, strengthening collaboration with relevant stakeholders and ensuring that suspects found culpable are brought to justice in accordance with the law.
He urged residents, community leaders, commercial motorcyclists, tricycle operators, traders, scrap-metal dealers and other stakeholders to remain vigilant and promptly report suspicious activities around electricity installations to the appropriate authorities. “Protecting critical national assets and infrastructure is a collective responsibility,” he concluded.