Enugu State Police Command has arrested five suspects over the alleged vandalism and theft of public infrastructure, including a solar street light, road traffic signs and materials belonging to the Enugu State Water Corporation.
Police spokesperson SP Daniel Ndukwe, said in a statement on Tuesday, that the suspects were arrested in three separate operations carried out by different police units, leading to the recovery of the stolen items.
According to the Police, operatives of the New Haven Division arrested Wisdom Nuhu and Moses Jonathan on September 27 after receiving information that they were negotiating the sale of a suspected stolen solar street light at a scrap yard in the New Artisan Market, Enugu.
The police said the solar street light was recovered during the operation. The suspects reportedly confessed during interrogation that they vandalised and removed the street light earlier that day from Graceland Estate in Independence Layout, Enugu.
In another operation, officers attached to the Abakaliki Road Police Division arrested 35-year-old Chukwudi Nwigbo on September 24 after the Enugu State Command-and-Control Centre received a distress alert. Police said surveillance cameras captured the suspect and another man, who escaped, while removing road traffic signs along Abakaliki Road in the Government Reserved Area (GRA). Several vandalised road signs with different inscriptions were recovered from the suspect.
The Command also disclosed that operatives of its Violent Crime Response Unit, working with members of the Neighbourhood Watch Group, arrested Zubairu Hamanpedimso, 31, and Mohamed Adamu, 21, on September 15 for allegedly conspiring to vandalise and steal materials belonging to the Enugu State Water Corporation. A bag containing iron materials, bolts and nuts allegedly removed from the corporation was recovered during the operation.
Commending the officers involved in the operations, the Commissioner of Police, CP Mamman Bitrus Giwa, praised the police personnel and members of the Neighbourhood Watch Group for their swift response, which led to the arrests and recovery of the stolen items.
He urged residents to support security agencies by reporting suspicious activities capable of threatening public assets and the safety of communities.
He said ll five suspects have since been arraigned in court and remanded in a correctional facility, while security operatives continue efforts to apprehend other members of the syndicates who are still on the run.
