Vandals steal electric cables, plunge FCT expressway into darkness – Manager
NAN-H-122
Streetlight
By Kabir Muhammad
Abuja, Feb. 20, 3017 (NAN) The dual carriage expressway between the Banex interchange and Gwarinpa II Estate interchange in Abuja have been thrown into complete darkness, following the destruction of streetlight cable by vandals on Monday.
The FCT Director of Facility Maintenance and Management, Mr Niyi Olaloye, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja while conducting newsmen round the facilities.
He explained that the incident has been reported the Gwarinpa Police Station by his office.
According to him, a seven-member armed gang of vandals at the early hours of Monday in Abuja attacked a security post guarding streetlight facilities and went away with about 120-meter armoured cable technically called ‘XLP Cable.’
“During the operation which took place between the hours of 2.30 – 3a.m on Monday, two security guards on duty were injured and later taken to the hospital for treatment but have now been discharged.
“The gang used a Toyota Hilux, carrying ‘NEPA’ ladder and sophisticated equipment used to professionally cut the cables,” he said.
The director noted that the hoodlums also attempted to vandalise the electricity transformer servicing half of the Dual Carriageway but were unable to break the fortified access after several attempts.
He, however, said that the vandals went away with telephone handsets belonging to the security guards on duty as well as other electricity installations.
Olaloye told newsmen that his office has been experiencing problems of vandalism but regretted that a dangerous dimension has been added with the use of firearms.
Also speaking, the Acting Coordinator of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), Hajiya Safiya Umar, condemned the vandalism of public facilities and described the act as unpatriotic.
The coordinator reiterated that money to be used for replacement of this equipment could better be used for new things apart from the waste of man-hour and darkness created inside the FCT before replacement.
She called on the residents of the FCT to personally see these facilities as their own by watching over them jealously and promptly reporting any suspicious movements around them to the security agencies. (NAN)
KM/AK/AFA
Edited by Akin Makanjuola/Felix Ajide