NSCDC Arrests 55-Year-Old Over Fibre-Optic Cable Vandalism

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), FCT Command, has arrested a 55-year-old man, Monday Williams, over the alleged vandalism and theft of about 3,000 metres of telecommunication fibre-optic cables along the Kugbo-Nyanya axis of Abuja.

The suspect, from Demsa Local Government Area of Adamawa State, was arrested by operatives of the Corps’ Critical National Assets and Infrastructure (CNAI) department during a routine patrol along the Kugbo-Nyanya Expressway following a tip-off.

The FCT Commandant of the NSCDC, Dr. Olusola Odumosu, disclosed this in a statement issued on Wednesday by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSC Monica Ojobi.

According to the statement, Williams was apprehended inside a telecommunication manhole while allegedly removing fibre-optic cables.

Two rolls of suspected stolen fibre-optic cables, measuring approximately 1,500 metres each, were recovered from him, bringing the total estimated length to 3,000 metres.

The statement said the suspect, during interrogation, disclosed that he had been in Abuja since 2004 and had worked in the telecommunications and fibre-optic installation sector.

Williams said he began working independently after leaving his former employer and met one Emeka in 2013, with whom he had allegedly been involved in cable-related deals.

He further claimed that Emeka informed him of a job around the Nyanya-Kugbo axis and allegedly removed about 800 metres of fibre-optic cables from a telecommunications manhole, alongside another 700 metres belonging to different communication companies.

The suspect told investigators that his experience in handling telecommunications installations enabled him to vandalise the infrastructure with ease.

The statement added that Emeka, who allegedly contacted Williams under the pretext of a cable installation job, fled upon sighting the NSCDC operatives and remains at large.

Reacting to the arrest, Odumosu condemned the activities of infrastructure vandals, warning that their actions have far-reaching socioeconomic consequences.

He linked vandalism to disruptions in telecommunications services, which affect businesses and other activities of residents.

“Like I keep saying, the socioeconomic impacts of vandalism are enormous and I cannot afford to allow it to continue in the FCT,” he said.

Odumosu added that recent disruptions in the telecommunications sector were partly caused by the activities of saboteurs.

He warned that anyone caught vandalising critical national assets and infrastructure would face the full weight of the law.