News

Vandals To Face Charges Of Economic Sabotage, Attempted Murder – FCT CP

Vandals To Face Charges Of Economic Sabotage, Attempted Murder – FCT CP
  • PublishedJanuary 14, 2025

 

The Commissioner of Police for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), CP Tunji Disu, has announced that individuals arrested for vandalising manholes and public infrastructure will face charges of economic sabotage and attempted murder.

This statement came during a press briefing after a security council meeting with FCT Minister Nyesom Wike on Monday.

Disu emphasized the severity of the crime, noting that vandals often receive minor punishments, leading to repeated offenses.

He described their actions as hazardous, pointing out that the removal of manholes could cause fatal accidents, particularly at night when drivers are unaware of the danger.

“Everybody arrested for vandalizing public infrastructure will be charged to court. Not only will they be charged to court but they will be charged to court for economic sabotage because we have noticed that whenever we charge them to court, the punishment given to them is so minute that we notice that we have been recycling these criminals.

READ ALSO:

“Most of the time they get community service where they are flogged, they get 24 strokes of the cane, and at times they get fined for N2,000, N5,000 Naira. So we noticed that we have been recycling these criminals.”

Disu further explained that these actions are dangerous enough to result in fatalities. “The activities of the vandals are enough to kill residents of the Federal Capital Territory because they remove all these manholes and while driving at night, you may not know that they have been removed and are capable of causing death.

“So, they will be charged for economic sabotage and even at times, if possible, attempted murder or murder.”

Additionally, the security council has announced a two-week ban on the activities of ‘panteka’ (scavengers), effective immediately, until they can be properly profiled.

Scavenging, especially in city centers, has also been banned, with activities restricted to designated dump sites.

“So they will be banned for two weeks, with effect from tomorrow, and we are going to profile them. At the same time, scavenging has been banned in the Federal Capital Territory, especially in the city centres. Their activities will only be limited to dump sites. All security agencies have been tasked with ensuring that this order is enforced,” he said.

Disu also revealed that the police had seized 25 operational vehicles used by “one-chance” kidnappers, emphasizing the police’s commitment to continued patrols and intelligence operations throughout the year to curb crime.

“We have succeeded in removing 25 of their operational vehicles from circulation. And what we noticed was that a lot of them were coming from other states, moving into the Federal Capital Territory every day as if they were coming to do their legitimate work.

“And what we noticed more is that almost all the vehicles recovered from these operators of one chance were tinted, fully tinted, making it difficult for their victims to ask for help, making it difficult for passers-by to see that people in those vehicles were in distress.

“Now, what are we going to do about it this year? We are going to embark on the same strategy that we deployed last year that yielded successes for us. We are going to embark on patrol. We are going to use a lot of intelligence. And those who have been arrested, we ensure that we charge them to court properly,” he said.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *