The Osun State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has apprehended Olalekan Kehinde for allegedly vandalizing railway tracks, fulfilling its core mandate.
The 24-year-old male resident of Abidogun, Ota-Efun, Osogbo, Osun State, was arrested for removing pandrol clips on the rail tracks.
His arrest was authorised by the Commandant of the Osun NSCDC, Igbalawole Sotiyo, as revealed in a statement, on Friday by Adeleke Kehinde, the Osun NSCDC spokesperson.
He said a discreet investigation revealed that on Sunday, November 17, 2024, the suspect, Olalekan Kehinde and his friend Abbey, who is currently at large, vandalised a railway track at Dagbolu by using a hammer to remove the Pandrol Clips.
“The following day, Monday 18th November 2024, they were caught in the act of vandalizing the railway at Dagbolu, Osun State, one of the suspects was arrested while the second one is still at large.
“In his confessional statement, the suspect said his friend Abbey taught him how to remove the Pandrol clips and thereafter sell them to metal scrap buyers in the state.”
Commandant Igbalawole Sotiyo, who frowned at the increasing rate of national assets vandalism in the country, called on the metal scrap buyers in the state to desist from buying vandalised materials from members of the public.
He warned that his men would embark on routine operations around the stores of metal scrap buyers in the state and anyone found culpable will face the full wrath of the law.
Commandant Sotiyo while soliciting more intelligence from the public to make the state safe for all and sundry, also commended members of the public for being security conscious.
“The arrest of the culprit and his accomplice was made possible through the efforts of residents of Dagbolu.”