The police have detained three suspected power cable vandals during a routine stop-and-search duty along the Enugu axis of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.

This was disclosed in a statement by the command’s spokesman, Daniel Ndukwe, on Friday.

According to him, the police operatives of the command attached to the distress response squad, on October 20, 2025, at about 4:48 a.m., intercepted and arrested three male suspects for vandalising power cables.

Mr Ndukwe said the operatives recovered lengths of vandalised high-voltage aluminium cables, concealed beneath cassava crop leaves, from the suspects.

He said that other items recovered included: one big cable cutter, two pairs of rubber gloves, a black bag containing clothes, and the suspects’ operational white-coloured minibus with registration number ENU 450 XK.

“The arrested suspects, Kelvin Chukwu, 25, Kenechukwu Ude, 25, and Uche Nwankwo, 28,  confessed to having vandalised the cables from electric poles along Ukete Road, Oduma Community in Aninri Local Government Area.

“They were transporting them to the New Artisan Market, Enugu, for sale. They will be arraigned in court upon conclusion of investigations,” he said.

Mr Ndukwe said that the state commissioner of police, Mamman Giwa, had reiterated the command’s commitment to fishing out vandals and other criminals bent on destroying and denying citizens the enjoyment of essential social amenities.

The spokesman said the commissioner had called on residents to continue supporting the police in their quest to rid the state of criminal elements.

(NAN)