Tuesday, January 14, 2025 - The Federal Capital Territory FCT Security Council has resolved to charge arrested vandals with attempted murd£r and or economic sabotage, to serve as a deterrent.
This decision comes amidst a rise in the
activities of manhole cover thieves in the nation’s capital, Abuja.
The Security Council lamented that the
current punishment as contained in extant laws do not really serve as a
deterrent.
The council also placed a two-week ban on
the activities of scrap and recycled products dealers in order to be able to
profile them.
Commissioner of Police in the FCT, Tunji
Disu disclosed these on Monday, Jan. 13, after a security council meeting
chaired by the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike.
He said scavenging has also been banned in
the FCT, especially in the city centres, adding that their activities will only
be limited to dump sites.
He said; “We just finished the security
meeting with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, where we reviewed
our activities for last year, all the security activities. We had the Minister
give us his opinion about our scorecards, and how we did well and he emphasized
on a lot of things he wanted us to ensure that we work on this year.
“During the course of the meeting, the
issue of vandalism of public infrastructure came up again and again. At the end
of the meeting, this decision was arrived at; Everybody arrested for
vandalizing public infrastructure will be charged to court.
“Not only will they be charged to court,
they will be charged to court for economic sabotage because we have noticed
that whenever we charge them to court, the punishment given to them is so small
that we noticed that we have been recycling these criminals.
“Most of the time, they get community service. Where they are flogged, they get
24 strokes of the cane. At times they get fined for N2,000, N5,000. So, we
noticed that we have been recycling these criminals.
“The activities of the vandals are enough
to kill residents of the Federal Capital Territory because they remove all
these manholes and while driving at night you may not know that they have been removed,
and it is capable of causing deaths. So they will be charged for economic
sabotage and even at times, if possible, attempted murder or murder”.
The CP added that the Council also banned
scrap dealers and sellers of recycled or second hand goods locally known as
“Pantekas” for the next two weeks in order to be able to profile them.
“At the same
time, it has been decided that activities of all ‘Pantekas’ have been banned
for two weeks. They have been banned for two weeks for us to profile them to be
sure that only legitimate operators will be working in Pantekas. So, they will
be banned for two weeks, with effect from Tuesday, and we are going to profile
them.
“At the same time, scavenging has been
banned in the Federal Capital Territory, especially in the city centres. Their
activities will only be limited to dump sites. Henceforth, the activities of
scavengers have been banned within the city center of the Federal Capital
Territory and the suburb as well.
“All security agencies have been tasked
with ensuring that this order is enforced. As from tomorrow, this order will be
enforced. The Pantekas will be closed for us to profile them.
“At the same time, we want to talk to the
residents of the Federal Capital Territory for them to know that anybody
vandalizing public infrastructure is vandalizing our joint property. Numbers
have been given out. If you see anything, say something. Let’s join hands to
ensure that we protect all government infrastructures”, he added.
As for taxi robbers otherwise known as “one
chance” operators, the Council said since the Penal Code did not envisage the
crime, perpetrators will be treated as armed robbers and kidnappers.
Disu said; “A lot has been done to curtail
the activities of one chance. For your information, in our code, the criminal
code, the penal code, we do not have anything called ‘one chance’. All we know
is that we have armed robbers because their activities are robbery.
“A lot of times, their activities could be
likened to kidnapping as well because all the elements of kidnapping are
already there. People are kidnapped and they demand for ransom. So, we are
treating them as armed robbers, we are treating them as kidnappers.
“Last year, a lot of them were arrested. As
I speak with you, about 21 of their vehicles have been recovered. They are
still there for you to see. This means that we have succeeded in removing 25 of
their operational vehicles from circulation.
“Also, what we noticed was that a lot of
them were coming from other states, moving into the Federal Capital Territory
every day as if they are coming to do their legitimate work.
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