FATTEH HAMID examines the menace of vandals targeting public amenities
The long arm of the law not long ago caught up with a guard at a tank farm in Calabar, Cross-River State, Gabriel Ajom, who allegedly connived with vandals to siphon petroleum products through a pipeline of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
The Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Cross River State, Mr Samuel Fadeyi, noted that he was arrested on August 26, 2022.
The suspect was attached to a moribund tank farm where the pipeline was connected to. Items recovered from the site of the incident included a shovel, connecting pipes, buckets and knives.
Fadeyi explained that the suspect was arrested by men of the NSDC who were on patrol with the company’s maintenance unit. It’s a private company in the state monitoring pipelines.
He said, “During the surveillance, they noticed a small hole around the area, suggesting a pit in between. The NSCDC officials dug the hole and they discovered that it was actually a tunnel, leading from the moribund tank farm into the pipeline. Further investigation showed that they had some equipment which they were actually going to use to connect to the pipeline, breach it and then steal petroleum products.
“This whole digging took place underground, such that one will not know what was going on. The tunnel leads to the tank farm at one end and the other leads to the pipeline.
Fadeyi noted that investigation had commenced and the suspect was assisting them with credible information to nab his accomplices.
The suspect who spoke while being paraded said that two men in his office approached him and promised to help him make a lot of money if he allowed them to dig the pipeline.
He said, “They asked me not to panic that I was going to make a huge amount of money. They gave me N500 on the first day they came. They left and later brought people from Port Harcourt, who dug the tunnel day and night. They promised that when they want to lay the pipes, they will give me a huge amount of money.”
Nigeria battles inadequate public amenities and infrastructure decay but despite the worrisome situation, some vandals continue to vandalise the insufficient facilities to sell as scraps for selfish ends.
Alarming data on vandalism
In November 2013, a data gathered by NOIPolls Limited indicated a general level of apathy towards public property in Nigeria. The poll conducted on the issue of public property vandalism in Nigeria indicated that about 6 in 10 Nigerians (61 per cent) believe that Nigerians generally value public property poorly. Also, the majority of respondents (74 per cent) agreed that there was a high incidence of public property vandalism in Nigeria; while suggesting that the most vandalised public property are: electricity installation (57 per cent); oil/gas (51per cent) facilities; and public buildings (32 per cent).
An audit report by NEITI revealed that Nigeria and oil companies lost a total of N1.737tn between 2009 and 2011; with cumulative losses due to pipeline vandalism and crude oil thefts at N134, 126, 921,724. The report also confirmed that the NNPCL spent over $600 million to fortify the security of oil and gas facilities.
There was also a massive destruction of public amenities during the 2020 protests against brutality and extortion by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad. The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, noted that during the protests tagged #EndSARS hijacked by hoodlums, 269 private companies’ assets were destroyed, not less than 243 government facilities burnt or vandalised and 81 government warehouses looted.
Similarly, taking stock after the protests, the Lagos State Government noted that 80 Bus Rapid Transit vehicles were burnt, with 27 of them costing $200,000 each, 57 amounting to $100,000 each and all totalling about N3.9bn.
Documents from the NNPCL stated that between January and September 2021, Nigeria lost N898.93bn to crude oil theft and repairs of vandalised pipelines, among others. In the same year, the country incurred crude oil losses valued at N556bn between August and October due to pipeline vandalism.
Report noted that a total of 350 pipeline points were vandalised between January and July 2021 according to data from the NNPCL.
In 2021, Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, said that there were 43 deliberate attacks on the commission’s facilities across the country between 2019 and 2021.
The 2021 Subscriber/Network Data Annual Report by the Nigerian Communications Commission disclosed that broadband penetration and teledensity declined that year due to vandalism.
NCC reported that Nigeria’s teledensity decreased from 107.18 per cent as of December 2020 to 102.40 per cent by December 31, 2021. Broadband penetration – decreased from 45.02 per cent as of December 2020 to 40.88 per cent as of December, 2021. Also, broadband subscriptions decreased from 85,941,222 subscriptions in December 2020 to 78,041,883 subscriptions as of December 2021.
Also, in September 2022, NCC Vice Chairman, Umar Danbatta, stated that over 50,000 cases of vandalism and destruction in telecom infrastructures and facilities were reported across the country in the past five years, adding that the implications of the incidents could be felt in the quality of telecommunications services in Nigeria, saying the developments led to drop calls and poor services across the country.
Vandals’ unrelenting acts
In February 2022, passengers aboard the train of the Nigeria Railway Corporation which departed the Obafemi Awolowo Train Station in Ibadan, Oyo State, at 8:30 am, were reportedly forced to stop somewhere at the Papalanto area, due to removal of components on the railway track by some vandals.
A passenger and lecturer at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Dr. Feyi Leo, said that fear gripped her and other passengers when the train was forced to stop.
Leo said the train coming from Lagos to Ibadan was also forced to stop in the opposite direction, and the two trains continued the journey after the damaged sections were fixed.
She said, “The trip was smooth and we had gone past the station at Abeokuta — moving towards Papalanto, when the train stopped and reversed some few meters. We were agitated and started asking questions. An announcement was made by the NRC official on board that their technicians were fixing a fault on the track, and that it would not take long.’’
Also, residents of Kolade Estate, Osogbo, Osun State, were going about their daily business on Tuesday, August 16, 2022, when they suddenly heard a loud bang as if a dynamite was detonated. Fear gripped many who thought it was an attack by insurgents. After waiting to know what happened, they realised that other people were running towards a location and then joined them only to get there and discovered the lifeless body of a vandal trying to steal from the estate’s transformer.
The state police spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola, noted that the vandal’s corpse was deposited at the mortuary.
She said, “Examinations gave him out to be a scrap picker, no family or relative has been identified yet, further information will be communicated in due time.”
Some vandals on Monday, August 29, 2022, got more than they bargained for when police noticed a suspicious movement of a mini-bus at Carter Bridge, Lagos State, which caught the attention of the operatives of state Rapid Response Squad on surveillance.
The RRS officers attempted to stop the vehicle marked LSD 440 XY occupied by four men who hurriedly alighted and fled. Their action raised suspicion and the cops gave the men a hot chase. The mini bus was fully loaded with 13 stolen bars of bridge protective railings. The stolen items were recovered.
Another vandal, Ibrahim Ojo, was arrested while attempting to steal components of a transformer in the Araromi area of Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State.
Ojo, who was arrested on January 8, 2020, was said to have sustained injuries over his body and caught with a pair of pliers which he intended to use to perpetrate his act before nemesis caught up with him.
The then state Police Commissioner, Johnson Kokumo, said the suspect was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau for further investigation.
He said, “He sustained injuries all over his body and we will charge him to court immediately after the completion of our investigation into the matter.” In October 2021, a suspected vandal met his death while vandalising an electric cable on Eric Moore Road, Surulere, Lagos.
It was learnt that the unidentified suspect and his gang members sneaked into the community’s transformer house to steal cables when the incident happened.
It was gathered that the gang had earlier stolen the transformer cable about a week before, plunging the community into darkness. However, the Eko Electricity Distribution Company replaced the cable and the vandals returned to cart away other cables before nemesis caught up with him.
Policemen attached to the Meiran Division of the Lagos State Police Command arrested one Emmanuel Aaron for vandalising a telecommunication mast in the area on August 17, 2022.
The state police spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, in a statement, said the 35-year-old suspect was found with 12 solar batteries. He said, “The suspect, arrested around 3.05am, in response to a distress call about the presence of vandals at the mast, was found with 12 solar batteries already loaded in their operational bus, a Ford with number plate FKJ 519 YF.”
Vandalism and the Nigerian law
Acts of vandalism include graffiti, trash dumping, light smashing, removing/bending signage or ornamentation, breaking windows, or other defacing of property.
It’s commonplace in the country to see vandals destroy railway tracks, remove bridge railings, pilfer manhole covers, streetlights and other power infrastructure, damage or steal oil pipelines, telecoms facilities and critical aviation infrastructure.
In Nigeria, any person who wilfully and unlawfully destroys or damages any property is guilty of an offence, which, unless otherwise stated, is a misdemeanour and he is liable, if no other punishment is provided, to imprisonment for two years under the law.
Also, in Section 451 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act, destruction or damage that endangers the life of any person, the offender is guilty of a felony and liable to imprisonment for life. The Oyo State Government in 2001 provided 50 kilometres of street lights for cities and towns across the state and advised members of the public to protect public facilities to ensure durability.
Stakeholders’ comments
In his contribution on the issue, a lawyer, Festus Ogun, noted that the actions of vandals in the country could be viewed as nothing else other than destruction.
He said, “Vandalism remains a crime under the Nigerian law and therefore, the government has to be proactive and ensure that vandals are arrested and prosecuted under the confines of the law. After successful conviction, the result of their trials should be made public to serve as deterrence to others nursing the ambition to vandalise public amenities.”
Ogun stated that there should be more awareness to get the information to several parts of the country.
He noted, “Also, the public amenities should be adequately monitored. I feel that regardless of the situation, no one should destroy or steal what is meant for public use. Equally, the government should not stop at the vandals alone, but also members of the public who buy the materials from them. We have to ensure that this is stopped by all means possible.”
Commenting on the development, ex-President, Nigeria Institute of Building, Kunle Awobodu, explained that destruction of public facilities was a disaster that could lead to economic problems.
Awobodu said, “A huge amount of money which could have been used for other developmental projects would be budgeted by the government for the repair of such damaged facilities. The implication would further be a loss on the economy.
“When we look at it, we will think about what could have led to “the destruction of public property vandalism and the people responsible for the act. It might be due to an accident for instance, a driver who accidentally hits an electricity pole in an area. But the majority of what we have in our society is that some vandals deliberately damage, remove the facilities such as like man-hole covers, and sell them to those that will sell the metal. That is the second category. Public facilities, especially public buildings are not regularly maintained.
“The effect of the damage is that the structures are weakened in a way and care must be taken to effect deliberate maintenance or else they will cease to function well. We could also see some of the public schools; the windows were damaged for a long time, etc. Those are some of the facilities that require urgent maintenance but left for a long time leading to deterioration of the whole structure.’’
Reacting to the destruction recorded during the #EndSARS protests, Awobodu noted that the act at the time was not planned.
He noted that the result was a reaction to a need by youths protesting peacefully, adding that the brutality against the protesters angered many youths especially those who had suffered economic setbacks and nursing reservations against society.
Awobodu said, “Many of them are unemployed graduates and able-bodied youths were encouraged to display their anger against society. It was a protest attack in which some of the affected buildings are still showing its effects. They have not been able to repair most of the damaged structures. That was an experience we pray not to have again because it came so suddenly and anger was responsible; anger bottled up for quite a long time. There was damage to the transport system such as the BRT buses and terminals.
“Vandalism is a disaster and a disaster causes economic problems because once facilities are destroyed, it takes a lot of funds to put them back in shape. Money meant for other facilities would now be diverted to refurbishing damaged facilities. By and large, it does not translate to profit. It’s a huge loss on the revenue and the government. This reminds us of the need to have protection for certain facilities such as traffic lights, public buildings, wires, etc. Economic security and physical security are possible ways of forestalling the problems.”
Also, a security expert, Chigozie Ubani, noted that the spirit of community policing and vigilantism was the end to the challenge of vandals in the country.
He said, “Every public amenity is domiciled in a village or community. That is where community policing and vigilantism come to play. The businessmen, who engage the young people to steal cables, vandalise pipelines and others, are creating a chain of demand and supply. The same youths can also be engaged through community policing and vigilantism to protect our communities. If the thieves realise that there were community youths on guard, on rotation, being paid by the government, through either the local or state government, the youth will protect amenities in their communities.“
Ubani noted that there was already a high level of unemployment in the country, noting that it should not be difficult to incorporate young people and adults involved in vandalism and other forms of crime in community policing to safeguard their communities.
He noted, “In the same manner, we can employ youths to protect the amenities. Even the police will be in the station while community police volunteers will apprehend criminals and hand them over for further investigation and prosecution.
“The government needs to engage young people, provide communication and mobility for them to protect their communities. The government should train them on how to do it. They should train them in how to know when certain things are prone to vandalism, how and when the people operate, give them tutorials and training and we discover that our communities are effectively policed.”
In his comment, a professor of electrical and electronics engineering, Adediran Ademola, explained that nothing could be done to dodge the situation except Nigerians become self-conscious.
He stressed the need for self-orientation as a major tool to make Nigerians conform with ethical standards, adding that good leadership at the grass-root would play a major role in such an enlightenment campaign.
Ademola said, “The personal experience I have in a friend’s house is that they removed the cables after wiring. At that particular time, it cost about N300, 000. But by the time he was about to replace the cable, the cost was about N900, 000. Almost three times the initial amount due to the inflation rate and the vandals would sell it at a cheap price. What I understand is they would burn the cables, remove the insulator and sell it off to wire sellers at a cheap rate.
“The first thing is it’s a loss to the owner of the building. We have been seeing the effects of climbing poles to remove power cables. It’s even more dangerous to armour cables because of the wetness of the weather now. They can get electrocuted and die there. At least we have seen some cases recently when some people went to vandalise transformers and cut live cables and died. We can say loss of life is also part of the effects.
“The economic loss to the community which the electricity is serving is also colossal. Apart from the fact that electricity is not stable. By the time they remove the cables and are not replaced immediately because of the logistics, it will affect the users particularly those that depend solely on electricity. For instance, welders depend on electricity supply unless they have enough money to buy diesel generators. We are aware of how much diesel costs nowadays. Consumers without meters will lose because they will be highly charged by the electricity company but if the meter is there, automatically it’s the company that will lose. So both ways is not economically viable.’’
Noting that vandals carried out their nefarious acts for economic reasons, he noted that in some markets stolen cables were sold openly but one cannot apprehend them because there were no names on the items.
He stated, “There is nothing one can do in such a situation unless one wants to find out how they got the cables. Before you can hold them responsible, it means you have to catch someone as the receiver of the goods. In that case, they are liable but anybody can visit the market to buy cable without knowing that they are buying a stolen item.
“The solution is to orientate ourselves to know that these things are not good. Nigeria is a funny country because these are the things they preach against in churches and mosques. Even religion does not support stealing but people do it because they just want to lead a life they are not supposed to lead. I see no reason why one will vandalise something one knows will have an adverse effect on some people who are benefitting from it and will paralyse the economic life of that community. They know that it is bad but it’s as if Nigerians still need orientation on this. It’s a difficult thing to stop.
He advised Nigerians to pray for and vote for good leaders across all levels, stating that everything stemmed from the local level because if the leaders were not transparent the followers cannot be transparent up to the highest level.
The don stated, “That is the problem we are having in Nigeria generally. In other climes, nobody vandalises anything. One solution is to make everything underground even but with that it is dangerous because of maintenance culture. In abroad, they have tunnels through which they passed the cables through. All the telecoms and electricity cables are packed under tunnels and they are well marked so you can’t construct on the tunnels because they already know that cables pass through there unlike in Nigeria. Unless we change our orientation, they will still steal the cables even when they are placed inside tunnels.”
Police commands react
In his reaction to the issue, the spokesperson for the police in Lagos, Benjamin Hundeyin, said police prosecute vandals upon their arrest.
He said, “When we see people moving with suspicious luggage, we challenge them and that has led to the discovery of many vandalised items in Lagos. Largely, we also rely on people giving us information because it’s possible that they get information before we do. Immediately we do, we swing into action and get these people apprehended.”
Hundeyin noted that vandalism could be addressed when technology was deployed to combat it.
He said, “Until we get to that point where we have CCTV cameras at strategic locations, when we have functional control rooms to keep tabs on public amenities, we will still continue to go out for our patrols and collaborate with members of society to protect our national infrastructures.”
On prosecution of vandals, he said, “Recently, we had a case of vandals who stole cables. He was arrested and taken to the state Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department where he was prosecuted. Some also stole bridge railings about two months ago. They were arrested by the Rapid Response Squad and handed over to the state CIID from where they were also prosecuted.”
He also said that security was everybody’s business, adding, “And in that regard, we are working with members of the community irrespective of the outfit to ensure that these things are appropriately protected.”
Also, his counterpart in Delta State, Bright Edafe, noted that as a means of eradicating the acts, the state command was working closely with vigilantes.
He said, “We are collaborating with local security to arrest and prosecute these people. The police cannot be everywhere and that is why we have deployed this. In Delta State, it is not what it used to be. Recently, the state Commissioner of Police patrolled waterways to see what is happening there and ensure that vandalisation of government structures becomes history.”
Edafe noted that on prosecution, the police had partnered with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
He said, “Suspects arrested for the offence of vandalisation were already charged to court and appropriately prosecuted. We are not leaving any stone unturned in this fight. And to those who have been evading arrest, I can assure you that they will be arrested and prosecuted appropriately.”
