By Daniel Tyokua
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) said seven persons have been arrested in connection with vandalisation of Abuja light rail infrastructure.
Mandate Secretary FCT Transportation Secretariat, Uboku Nyah disclosed this when he led top management officials of the secretariat on inspection tour of a section of the rail tracks in Kukwaba area.
He said it was sad that some of the people that the government was working for, are those causing such level of vandalism on the critical infrastructure, as the perpetrators didn’t come from outer space.
Nyah vowed that the full weight of the law will be visited on the perpetrators, so as to discourage others from acting against the interest of the government and people in the Territory.
He recalled that over the past few days, the FCT Minister, Barr. Nyesom had emphasised the importance of efficient transportation particularly the rail transportation in line with the vision of the renewed hope agenda of the President, in providing cheap and safe transportation for the people.
“We came here and see that even the cables and the protective fences have been vandalised by our people, it is something that takes us back, and it is criminal for anybody to do this. That is why the Minister of FCT will not take it lightly, as the full weight of the law will be visited on the people.
“And we in the FCT are against this kind of action, and we will continue to crush and visit heavy sanctions on the people that are doing this. So far, there are about seven (7) persons that have been arrested.”
On the mandate of Mr. President to ride in the Abuja rail, the Secretary said: “The president will still ride on Metro rail within due time, the only thing it does is that it calls us to greater work, with some level of additional expenditure, because we still have to deliver the quality that we had envisioned originally. No matter what is vandalised, we have to replace them, so that brings additional cost.
Earlier, the General Supervisor, SEGAD Security Company LTD, Japhet MaiKeffi, one of the two security service providers guarding the rail facility, revealed that its personnel used one of the arrested suspect’s phone to trace others to their hideout.
