Nigeria Police, Niger State Command, has announced the recovery of armoured cables belonging to Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) at Mawogi village in Lapai Local Government Area of the state, which were vandalised and carted away by criminals.
The command Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Wasiu Abiodun, disclosed this in a press release issued and signed by him and made available to Newsmen yesterday in Minna.
According to him, the vehicle used by the criminals for operations was also recovered, along with the stolen armoured cables.
DSP Abiodun said the recovery of the vandalised items was made possible based on credible information that the armoured cables of an electric transformer located at Mawogi village via Lapai were vandalised and stolen by unknown persons.
The PPRO said the police operatives attached to Lapai Division of the Niger State Command, in collaboration with the members of the community, swung into action based on the credible information received and conducted a search around nearby forests, where the following items were found: a Ford Galaxy vehicle with registration plate number KWA 670 AA, a vandalised transformer, armoured cable, industrial bolt cutters, mental bars, bags containing clothes and foodstuffs, while the suspects were however lucky to have escaped from the scene.
DSP Wasiu Abiodun said the recovered items were kept in police custody for safety while the investigation was ongoing with a view to apprehending the vandals.
Meanwhile, the state Commissioner of Police, CP Ogundele Joshua Ayodeji, has commended the efforts of members of the community who partnered with the police by giving them credible information that led to the recovery of the vandalised cables.
He, however, enjoined members of the public to emulate such zeal and be more vigilant on installations and infrastructures in their areas to avoid such vandalism within their areas.