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, made the disclosure at a news briefing in Doma on Monday.
Afolasade said, “On August 5, 2023, at about 11pm, troops of the command intercepted three suspected railway vandals during a routine patrol at Kwarra community of the Keana LGA.
“The suspects were arrested with a large quantity of railway parts loaded in a truck with registration number DED 364 YC.”
He said that the suspects claimed that they were deceived by their sponsors, who are still on the run.
Afolasade said preliminary investigations revealed that the driver of the truck, Chibuki Akubilo, was contacted to convey the vandalised railway parts to Ilorin, the Kwara State capital for N1.6m.
He further said the Commander of the Special Forces, Maj. Gen. Hillary Nzan, had approved that the suspects be handed over to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps for further investigation and prosecution.
He, therefore, handed over the suspects to the representative of the state command of the NSCDC.
Responding, the NSCDC Public Relations Officer, Mr Jerry Victor, expressed gratitude to the Army for collaborating with the corps to tackle insecurity in the state.
“Usually, this type of crime is being committed by a syndicate,” Victor said.
He promised that further investigation would be made to arrest other members of the group for prosecution.
The driver of the truck told newsmen that he was contacted by one Mr Charles to convey the items to Ilorin.
