6 cable vandals arrested

Six suspected cable vandals, who have been allegedly responsible for the destruction and stealing of ‘Light Up Lagos’ project have been arrested by the police.

Metro gathered that the suspects were Saheed,Tunde,Deji,Jelili, Sunday and Taofeek (surnames withheld), who all claimed to be homeless and had been staying under different bridges in Lagos State in the last four years.

They also blamed their involvement in crime on the harsh economic situation in the country.

They were arrested by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad under the popular CMS bridge on the island of the state after an operation.

The arrested suspects were said to have vandalised some street lightings around the CMS and were escaping from the area when they were intercepted by the policemen.

A police source at the RRS told Metro that one of the policemen had sighted the vandals and mobilised his colleagues to the scene.

Jelili told Metro “I came to Lagos about seven years ago. When I arrived, I was a bus conductor which I did for about two years. I joined the other accomplices under the bridge when I had no other place to live after my landlord had evicted me for non-payment of house rent.

He also continued “before now, I was working as labourer with the road construction company around Marina, but after our project ended, I chose to steal the cable to earn a living.”

Another member of the gang,Tunde, also disclosed that the constant clashes by factions of hoodlums in Isale Eko forced him to relocate to CMS.

Tunde said “I ran for my life for fear of death. Lagos Island is not safe for me any longer because of rampant killings and clashes between rival groups in the area. I moved to the ‘under bridge’ for shelter.

He added that “although, I have not been doing anything tangible since I arrived the state, but I did have my daily meals through the sales of cables and iron steels.”

Deji Afolorunso said “I swept the whole market every night and they paid me N2,500 daily, but I lack contentment which led me to this crime.”

The image maker in charge of the state police command, Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the arrest of the suspects, adding that they had been transferred to the Lagos State Task Force on the Environment and other related offences for prosecution.