Civil Defence arraigns 121 suspects for telecom infrastructure vandalisation in 2012

By Olubunmi Adeniyi

Lagos. April 18, 2013: No fewer than 121 suspects are under prosecution for telecoms infrastructure vandalisation across the country, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has said.

The telecoms sector estimated at contributing over $25 billion in investment to the economy has continued to groan under the rising incidence of damages to network infrastructure caused by vandals in parts of the country.

NSCDC, a government security agency under the Ministry of Interior reports that between January and December, 2012 some 121 suspects have been prosecuted according to the statistical analysis of prosecuted vandals on telecom Infrastructure published on its website.  

The destruction and vandalism of telecoms infrastructure and equipment has become a big challenge emerging in Nigeria’s highly competitive telecoms market, stakeholders have said.

NSCDC says that it is stepping up measures to prevent vandals from sabotaging telecoms infrastructure and frustrating efforts of telecoms operators in improving service quality.

NSCDC says that the suspected vandals are being prosecuted in Kaduna, Adamawa, Sokoto, Federal Capital Territory, Oyo, Kano, Awka-Ibom, Benue and Borno States.

Kaduna State recorded the highest number of suspects last year with 29 people who tampered with telecoms equipment in the state followed by Adamawa with 19 suspects, the security outfits says.

On the other hand, Sokoto State ranked third place with 17 suspects while Abuja and Oyo States had 14 suspects within the same period.  

Kano, Awka-Ibom, Benue and Borno State had 11, 10, 4, and 3 numbers of suspects under prosecution respectively, NSCDC says.