The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has arrested 30 suspected vandals for allegedly targeting critical national assets and infrastructure across the Federal Capital Territory in six months.
The NSCDC informed that the arrests came as part of it’s intensified efforts to curb sabotage and protect public facilities.
The agency relayed that the arrests which were held between January and June 2026, followed intelligence-driven operations, sustained surveillance and targeted enforcement raids across Abuja, with suspects linked to the vandalism of electricity transformers, fibre optic cables, telecommunications facilities, armoured cables, road crash barriers and other public infrastructure.
The FCT Commandant of the NSCDC, Olusola Odumosu, disclosed this while reviewing the command’s achievements in combating vandalism over the six-month period.
He described the arrests as evidence of the command’s resolve to safeguard public assets and rid the nation’s capital of criminal elements engaged in the destruction and theft of government infrastructure.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Monica Ojobi, Odumosu said the command recorded significant successes through sustained intelligence gathering, surveillance and strategic enforcement operations aimed at preventing the vandalism of critical national assets.
He said the command arrested seven suspects in January, two in March, four in April, five in May and 10 in June for various offences involving the destruction and theft of public infrastructure.
Providing a breakdown of the operations, Odumosu said three suspects were arrested for vandalising crash barriers along Constitution Avenue in Abuja’s Central Area. During the operation, NSCDC operatives recovered 12 vandalised crash barriers and eight poles believed to have been removed from the roadway.
The commandant also disclosed that in a separate operation at Dakibiyu in the Jabi District, officers recovered a vandalised electricity transformer and arrested three suspects in connection with the incident.
He added that another three suspects were apprehended while attempting to cart away six vandalised transformer components, thwarting what he described as another attempt to cripple electricity infrastructure within the territory.
Odumosu revealed that the command arrested illegal telecommunications cable operators engaged in unlawful cabling activities in the Sunnyvale area of the FCT, while two other suspects were intercepted around the Transcorp Bridge as they allegedly attempted to vandalise public utility facilities.
He said operatives also arrested two suspects for vandalising fibre optic cables around Leisure Court in Lugbe, noting that such acts pose serious threats to telecommunications services and other digital infrastructure.
In separate operations, two suspected iron rod vandals were apprehended in the Central Area in April, while two suspected armoured cable vandals were arrested in Utako. Three additional suspects were also arrested in Zone 3 for similar offences involving the vandalism of electrical infrastructure.
Odumosu reiterated the command’s commitment to protecting critical national assets, warning that individuals involved in vandalism and related crimes would continue to face the full weight of the law. He urged residents of the FCT to remain vigilant and support security agencies by providing timely and credible information on suspicious activities capable of threatening public infrastructure.