Monday, 20 February 2017

Cable bandits plunge Abuja into darkness

Cable bandits have plunged into darkness the expressway between Banex interchange and Gwarinpa 11 Estate in Abuja, after the theft of streetlight cables on Monday.

The FCT Director of Facility Maintenance and Management, Mr Niyi Olaloye, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja while conducting newsmen round the facilities.

He explained that the incident has been reported the Gwarinpa Police Station by his office.

According to him, a seven-member armed gang at the early hours of Monday in Abuja attacked a security post guarding streetlight facilities and went away with about 120-meter armoured cable technically called ‘XLP Cable.’

“During the operation which took place between the hours of 2.30 – 3a.m on Monday, two security guards on duty were injured and later taken to the hospital for treatment but have now been discharged.

“The gang used a Toyota Hilux, carrying ‘NEPA’ ladder and sophisticated equipment used to professionally cut the cables,” he said.

The director noted that the bandits also attempted to steal the electricity transformer servicing half of the Dual Carriageway but were unable to break the fortified access after several attempts.

He, however, said that the bandits went away with telephone handsets belonging to the security guards on duty as well as other electrical installations.

Olaloye told newsmen that his office has been experiencing problems of cable theft but regretted that a dangerous dimension has been added with the use of firearms.

The Acting Coordinator of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), Hajiya Safiya Umar, condemned the theft of public facilities and described the act as unpatriotic.

The coordinator reiterated that money to be used for replacement of this equipment could better be used for new things apart from the waste of man-hour and darkness created inside the FCT before replacement.

She called on the residents of the FCT to personally see these facilities as their own by watching over them jealously and promptly reporting any suspicious movements around them to the security agencies.

NAN

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