The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC)'s Commandant General's Special Intelligence Squad (CG's SIS) has stopped an articulated DAF truck carrying a significant amount of vandalised rail track iron buried in iron debris. 

In a statement on Thursday, NSCDC spokesman Babawale Afolabi said four individuals had been detained pending additional inquiries and possible legal action in relation to the stolen goods.

The truck's driver, 27-year-old Anasi Ali, 25-year-old Yusuf Idris, 18-year-old Hafis Idris, and 28-year-old escort Nasiru Abdullahi are the four suspected vandals.

The truck and the four suspects were detained, according to the spokesperson, along the Lafia-Akwanga-Abuja motorway in Sabon Pagi, Lafia, Nasarawa State.

“On 14th of August, 2023, at about 1030hrs, the CG’s Special Intelligence Squad, who was on a specialized operation to checkmate nefarious activities of rail line vandals, arrested four suspected vandals who disguised as scavengers,” Afolabi said.

“It was later discovered that the suspects have vandalized rail track irons and concealed them inside scrap iron materials before loading the vandalized rail track irons into a truck that will convey them to the buyers.”

The iron and sleepers for the railway tracks were loaded in Makurdi, Benue State, and shipped to an unnamed iron and steel plant in Ilorin, Kwara State, according to the investigation.