Suspected electricity cable vandal arrested in FTC

Monday, October 6, 2025 - Vigilantes have arrested a suspect, identified as Peters Shina, for allegedly vandalizing high-tension electricity cables along Ashara village in the Kwali Area Council of the FCT.

A member of the vigilante, Yunusa Saidu, said the suspect was arrested on Thursday, around 4:23 pm., after some villagers saw him and immediately raised an alarm.

He said the suspect “confidently went to where some of the high-tension cables had fallen down and started cutting the cable.”

He added that the vigilante quickly mobilized to the scene and arrested him.

He said the suspect, who is a native from Kabba, Kogi State, but resides in Gwako village near Gwagwalada, confessed to the stealing of the cables, adding that he has been handed over to the police in the Danagra Division.

Abuja Metro also reliably learned that three suspected vandals were also apprehended with stolen high-tension cables near Piri village, also in the Kwali Area Council.

A police source who preferred anonymity confirmed the arrest, saying the suspects were conveying a large quantity of high-tension cables inside a Golf car when they were arrested at a checkpoint near Piri village on Wednesday.

“Actually, the police officers became suspicious when the driver, upon sighting the police at the checkpoint, parked by the roadside and fled into the bush. While three other occupants of the car also attempted to flee, one of the police threatened to shoot and they could not escape,” he said.

The source said the suspects were later taken to the Kwali Division alongside the vehicle, and that investigations were ongoing to trail the driver.

Abuja Metro recalled that some suspected hoodlums were reported to have vandalized high-tension electricity cables between Manderegi village near Abaji town two weeks ago, which has thrown Abaji and its environs into darkness since then.

The spokesperson of the FCT police command, SP Adeh Josephine, did not respond to both text messages and calls put across to her over the incident up till the time of filing the report.