THE Anambra State Police Command said it has commenced investigation into the alleged vandalism of some parts of the Second Niger Bridge linking Asaba, Delta State, and Onitsha, Anambra State.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Tochukwu Ikenga (SP), told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday, June 4, in Onitsha, that he was yet to confirm the incident, adding, however: “But we have escalated it to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) to get the necessary information.”
When asked about the 24-hour patrol launched on August 4, last year, by a Joint Task Force of Anambra and Delta states Police Command as part of efforts to make the bridge safe for road users, he said the operation was still ongoing.
Ikenga, however, restated that he was yet to confirm if the trending video was a recent development or not.
Recall that a yet-to-be-identified man was seen in a viral video narrating how some rail fittings connecting the bridge was allegedly removed by some suspected scavengers.
When contacted on the development, Mr. Uche Orji, the Chief Press Secretary to the Minister of Works, Chief David Umahi, simply said security action had been taken and he was not ready to disclosed further information.
Also speaking, Anambra Commissioner for Information, Mr. Paul Nwosu, said the incident had been brought to the attention of the Highway Department of the Federal Ministry of Works, even as he expressed the state government’s concern over the vandalisation of the railings.
He stated: “The Police is aware of the theft. Before now, there has been an indication of nefarious human beings looking to make away with those things.
“There has been a patrol of policemen along the bridge. You know these people, you won’t know where they are hiding to know if patrol has passed before they attack.
“One thing about criminals is that they are also members of our society. They know where you have security presence and where you don’t and immediately they notice a kind of movement, they come out to do what they want to do.
“It’s not as if the security agencies are not on the alert, but just when it appears that they have moved to oversight in a different place, these thieves will strike.
“You know people gather condemn iron, but this one is not a condemn iron, this one is not a disposed iron. These are irons that are actively in use, to make sure that people enjoyed the brand new road that the federal government put for us to enjoy.
“But security agencies, particularly the Police, have been on patrol in that area.”
Nwosu said it had been discovered that some thieves had been carrying out their nefarious activities on that bridge; hence a Police unit would be stationed on the bridge to forestall future occurrence.
