Port Harcourt mayor places N100,000 bounty on manhole cover thieves

Friday, February 7, 2025 - The Mayor of Port Harcourt Court City, Ezebunwo Ichemati, has placed a bounty of N100,000 on each manhole cover thief to be caught in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. 

Ichemati announced the bounty following the arrest of an alleged manhole cover thief at the Abali (CFC) flyover axis of Port Harcourt by a vigilante in the Ogbum-nu-Abali community in Port Harcourt on Thursday, February 6.

The Mayor said aside from the millions of naira that the council will expend to replace the stolen manhole covers in Port Harcourt, it is also a security and safety risk.

“The truth is, it's quite unfortunate how young, vibrant men who ordinarily should toe the line of legality and fend for themselves will resort to vandalizing government property,” he said.

"It's a sad one that across the length and breadth of Port Harcourt City local government, you see these daredevil individuals; they vandalize all the manholes. And apart from vandalizing these manholes, it also causes security threats, because vehicles who are not smart enough and did not see them early will move into it, and you don't know what will happen when you have a follow up vehicle behind.

"I have heard situations where they said children fell into manholes and they were not seen. So it's a sad one. Across Port Harcourt City local government, we have about 100 plus manholes that have been stolen. I did my count and that manhole will be costing the local government about 20 million Naira to fix. This is money that can be channeled into other things.

"As a government, upon our inauguration, I took it as a point of duty; every midnight, I move around the city from 2 a.m when I know it is the time these people come out to carry out their daredevil and evil activities. I moved around, caught one before, and this particular person now is the second person that will be apprehended. And thanks to the vigilante, the young man decided to move beyond where he's covering to go as far as catching this person.

"And today, we'll be placing a bounty that anybody that gives a link or information to how these manhole thieves or those who buy the covers from them will be caught will be given the sum of 100,000 Naira," the Mayor added while commending the vigilante that caught the culprit of the manhole cover theft."