Army apprehends 12 rail track vandals in Nasarawa
12 suspected rail track vandals have been arrested by the military troops of the Four Special Forces Command, Doma, Nasarawa State at Angwan Yara in the Keana Local Government Area of the state.
This was made known on Friday by the acting Deputy Director, Army Public Relations of the command, Maj. Joseph Afolasade during a press briefing.
He said, “On June 15, 2023, troops of the command, during a routine patrol, intercepted five suspected rail track vandals at an abandoned railway station between Angwan Yara and Agyaragu communities of Keana LGA.
“The suspects were arrested with a large quantity of rail tracks loaded in two 12-tyre trucks. In the course of the investigation, the troops arrested additional seven suspects on June 18 who made confessional statements.
“They admitted to having played various roles in the theft of the rail tracks and mentioned the names of some prominent persons in Nasarawa and Plateau states as being part of the syndicate.”
Afolasade revealed that in a bid to be set free by the Army, the suspects offered a bribe of N5m to officers of the command which was rejected.
“They offered to give our personnel N5 million to allow them to go with the rail tracks, but our men rejected the money and arrested them,” he stated.
The Acting Deputy Director added that the Commander of the Special Forces, Maj. Gen. Owyinka Soyele, had ordered that the suspects be handed over to officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps for further investigation and prosecution.
