52 days after the commissioning of Light Up Lagos
Project by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, at the
Old Toll Gate end of Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway,
the operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS)
of Lagos State Police Command, over the
weekend, arrested a vandal digging up the
armoured cable and removing its silver protector
in Ojota area of the state.
The suspected cable thief, Obaji Christopher, 23,
from Benue State, was caught red-handed by RRS
operatives who were on routine surveillance of
Ojota loop, inward Ketu – Alapere Road at about
11:20 a.m. while pulling out the cable from the
ground.
Obaji, who explained to interrogators that he just
got to Lagos two weeks ago, was seen with an
accomplice still at large, digging up the armoured
cable with hoe and removing its silver protector
before he was arrested.
One of the RRS men who arrested the suspect
(who spoke on condition of anonymity) explained,
"early on Saturday morning, during our
daily patrol routine, we saw the suspect
where he was vandalizing the armoured
cable meant to electrify Lagos at a very
unsuspicious corner in Ojota.
"The cable was buried after it was laid. We
saw him and his accomplice digging up the
cable. He was using hoes to bring the
cable to the surface, while his friend had
on him a broken saw used in cutting some
part in the cable. He was unable to take to
his heels because we had already
surrounded the whole area," he said.
Upon his arrival at the RRS Headquarters, the
suspect confessed to the crime, saying that
poverty led him into the act. In his confessional
statement, the suspect said, "I just arrived Lagos
about two weeks ago. When I had nowhere to
sleep, I started sleeping inside Ojota park. It was
at this park that I met one guy, simply identified as
Anago, who introduced me to this job.
The suspect explained further,
"Anago told me that if I was able to go for
two to three operations, I will have enough
money to take care of my present
predicament. On this very day, we went
together to Ojota for the operation. When
we got there, both of us dug the ground
where the cable was buried".
He added:
"We had successfully pulled it out. But to
my greatest surprise, I didn't know how
my friend escaped from the scene. When I
was about to be parking the cable into a
sack, I saw Policemen appeared. At this
point, I didn't know what to do again. That
was how I got apprehended in the act".
The RRS operatives further conducted thorough
surveillance checks around the motor park as part
of efforts to arrest his accomplice, Anago, but
proved abortive as the suspect could not provide
reasonable address of the fleeing assistant, saying
that they met at the motor park where they both
sleep every night.
RRS monitors who have kept a close watch on
Light Up Lagos Project’s facilities in the area and
Ogudu stretch, including armoured cable,
observed that vandals were tampering with the
facilities, thereby necessitating their close
monitoring of the area.
It was learnt that the Commander of RRS directed
all officers to always check out the Light Up Lagos
Project in order to protect and prevent vandals
from destroying the Government’s facilities within
the metropolis.
It could be recalled that RRS on Saturday, April 2,
2016, arrested a similar cable thief, Lucky
Udeagwu, for stealing a 35-meter-long armoured
cable meant for the State Government’s Light Up
Lagos’ project in Ogudu.
While confirming the arrest, Lagos State Police
Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Superintendent of
Police, SP Dolapo Badmus, said that the state
would not tolerate vandalism and sabotage of
Governments' efforts.
The suspect has been transferred to SARS's
office in Ikeja
