The Nigeria Police Force has nabbed a notorious vandal cutting a rail bridge along the Kaduna/Kafanchan axis.

The Managing Director of the Nigeria Railway Corporation, Dr Kayode Opeifa, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Lagos.

The statement was signed by the Deputy Director, Public Relations, NRC, Yakub Mamood.

Mr Opeifa said that the suspect, who had been under surveillance for vandalism of rail tracks on the axis, was caught in the act by the police.

He stated, “The police are on the trail of the vandal’s collaborators still at large.’’

The NRC boss described as worrisome the spate of vandalism of iron materials from rail tracks across the country.

He restated earlier warnings to vandals and their collaborators especially iron smelting foundries, to steer clear of railway property. .

Mr Opeifa said that anyone caught would be prosecuted.

The NRC boss further said that rail lines and their accessories were not scraps, and advised people to stop paying money for them when offered as scraps by anyone.

He added that only the managing director and the corporation’s management were authorised to discard the corporation’s property if the need arose.

Mr Opeifa appealed to the members of the public to alert its management whenever they see unauthorised movement of the corporation’s property.

Recall that the Railway Police Command swooped on a house in Kafanchan, where irons and sleepers belonging to the Nigerian Railway Corporation were stored.

Latest instances of vandalism recorded are of a policeman caught with parts of a rail track in Minna, Niger State, while in Bauchi and Port Harcourt, some persons were caught cutting the rail tracks.

Similarly, another trailer load of rail tracks were intercepted at Obeagu in Ebonyi State.

The vehicles used in the operation, both in the Bauchi and Port Harcourt incidents, are with the police as exhibits.

“Let me warn in the stiffest language that all these economic saboteurs stealing our rail materials across the country will be prosecuted by the Nigeria police. All smelting foundries colluding with these saboteurs by buying off the iron materials stolen from railway should desist as their acts are injurious to the economy,” Mr Opeifa said.

He said the corporation would continue to leverage the success of the reactivated freight movement to keep its lines busy

According to him, efforts are being made to reopen abandoned routes especially on the two narrow gauge lines for massive movements of cargo across the country.

The NRC managing director assured that the century old lines such as the Kano- Nguru in Yobe and Jigawa states, and Idogo line in Ogun State, the Zaria-Kaura Namoda line in Katsina and Zamfara states, were already receiving priority attention and would be reactivated soon.

He said that in a matter of months, the corporation would achieve seamless cargo movement on its narrow gauge beyond Ibadan, to Ilorin, even to Minna, and to Kano from Lagos. 

(NAN)