The Police on Wednesday paraded members of a criminal syndicate allegedly responsible for vandalism of rail tracks in the North-West and North-Central parts of the country.
Members of the syndicate were among 36 suspects paraded over alleged involvement on charges of murder, criminal conspiracy, armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, unlawful possession of prohibited firearms, cattle rustling, receiving of stolen items and car theft by the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO) Mr Frank Mba disclosed at a news briefing in Abuja.
According to Mba, the suspects were arrested as part of deliberate efforts by the police to contain and clampdown on perpetrators of recent incidents of rail tracks vandalism, carting away of critical locomotive equipment and other related economic crimes in some parts of the country.
He added that the rail vandal suspects, Idris Lawal, Abdullahi Musa, and Usman Umar were arrested following a coordinated intelligence-driven special operation on 27th May, 2021, which uncovered a warehouse in Gboko LGA of Benue State.
“A cordon and search operation conducted by the Police operatives on the building revealed different vandalized rail equipment, stolen rail installation racks, weld-shear, rail puller, other rail accessories and consumables.
“Further investigations by the Police team led to the interception of three (3) heavy-load trucks along Ikom-Ibom junction in Cross Rivers State.
“The trucks were fully loaded with vandalized rail items transported from the warehouse.
Mba added that investigation is ongoing to identity the destination, the targeted criminal receivers, end-users and other suspects complicit in the crime.