Minister Laments Increasing Destruction Of National Assets In Abuja

• The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Muhammad Bello, has decried the spate of destruction of critical national assets in the nation’s capital.

He listed some of the vandalised assets to include telecommunication ducts, manhole covers, street lights, solar panels at traffic intersections and some facilities at the Abuja light rail project, EkoHotBlog reports.

Bello lamented that despite the increase in the crime, only a few arrests had been made.

The minister, according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Anthony Ogunleye, spoke during the visit of the Commandant General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Ahmed Audi, on Tuesday.

The statement was titled, ‘FCT Minister assures NSCDC of FCTA’s continuous support.’ The minister was quoted as saying, “I am concerned over the spate of vandalism of critical national assets in the FCT, including telecommunication ducts, manhole covers, street lights, solar panels at traffic intersections and some facilities at the Abuja light rail project.

“I want you to work in conjunction with other security agencies to not only arrest the vandals but also their sponsors.

It is a sophisticated and complicated value chain. So far, the arrests of the vandals have been at the lowest level, the street urchins.

But I think it is very important now that your operations and investigations really need to identify the real culprits and beneficiaries. Where are the vandalised items sold? Where is the economic value chain? Because the amount of damage is enormous. It affects us all as a people because needed resources are recycled and recycled just to replace vandalised equipment.”

Earlier, Audi had commended the minister for the support the NSCDC has enjoyed from the FCTA while calling for a robust partnership that involves more information sharing between the two organisations for the overall safety of all residents of the FCT.