The police command in Anambra State has commenced investigation into the alleged vandalism of the second Niger Bridge linking Asaba and Onitsha in Delta and Anambra states respectively.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, made this known during an interview on Tuesday in Onitsha.

Mr Ikenga said that he had yet to confirm the incident.

He said, “I have not confirmed the incident, but we have escalated it to the Divisional Police Officer to get the necessary information.’’

Asked about the 24-hour patrol of the bridge launched on August 4, 2023 by a Joint Task force of Anambra and Delta states police commands to make the bridge safe for road users, he said that the operation was still ongoing.

He, however, said that he had yet to confirm if the video was a recent development or not.

A yet-to-be-identified man was seen in a viral video narrating how some rail fittings connecting the second Niger Bridge were allegedly removed by some suspected vandals.

Contacted on the development, Uche Orji, the Chief Press Secretary to the Minister of Works, David Umahi, simply said that security action had been taken and he was not ready to disclose further information.

Also speaking, Anambra Commissioner for Information, Paul Nwosu, said that the news of alleged vandalism on the 2nd Niger Bridge had been brought to the attention of the Highway Department of the Federal Ministry of Works.

According to him, it is not to say that the state government is not concerned about the theft of the iron.

Mr Nwosu stated, “Police are aware of the theft; before now there has been an indication of nefarious human beings looking to make away with those things. There has been a patrol of policemen along the bridge, you know these people; you won’t know where they are hiding to know if patrol has passed before they attack. One thing about criminals is that they are also members of our society.

“They know where you have security presence and where you don’t; immediately they noticed a kind of movement, they come out to do what they want to do. It’s not as if the security agencies are not on the alert, but just when it appears that they have moved to oversight in a different place, these thieves will strike. You know people who gather condemned iron, but this one is not a condemned iron. This one is not a disposed iron.

“These are irons that are actively in use, to make sure that people enjoyed the brand new road that the federal government put for us to enjoy, but security agencies particularly the police have been on patrol in that area.’’

The commissioner said that it had long been discovered that some thieves were carrying out their nefarious activities on that bridge.

He said that a unit of mobile police would be stationed on the bridge to forestall future occurrence.

(NAN)