Anambra State Police Command has commenced investigation into the alleged vandalism of the second Niger Bridge that links Asaba and Onitsha in Delta and Anambra Statesrespectively.
Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, yesterday in Onitsha.
Ikenga said that he is yet to confirm the incident; “I have not confirmed the incident, but we have escalated it to the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, to get the necessary information.”
When asked about the 24 hours patrol launched on August 4, 2023 by a Joint Task Force of Anambra and Delta State Police Commands as part of efforts to make the bridge safe for road users, he said the operation is ongoing.
He, however, said he is yet to confirm if the video was a recent development or not.
NAN reports that a yet-to-be-identified man was seen in a viral video narrating how some rail fittings connecting the second Niger bridge was allegedly removed by some suspected scavengers.
When contacted on the development, Mr Uche Orji, Chief Press Secretary to the Minister of Works, David Umahi, simply said that security action had been taken and he is not ready to disclose information.
Also speaking, Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Mr Paul Nwosu, added that the alleged vandalism of the 2nd Niger Bridge had been brought to the attention of the Highway Department of the Federal Ministry of Works.
According to him, this is not to say that the state government is not concerned about the theft of those iron.
“Police is aware of the theft; before now, there has been 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; immediately they notice a kind of movement, they come out to do what they want to do.
“It is not as if the security agencies are not on alert, but just when it appears that they have moved to a different place, these thieves will strike.
“You know people who gathered condemn iron, but this one is not condemn iron, this one is not disposed iron.
“These are irons that are actively in use, to make sure that people enjoy 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”, he said.
The commissioner noted that it had long been discovered that some thieves had been carrying out their nefarious activities on that bridge.
He said a unit of mobile police would be stationed on the bridge to forestall future occurrence. NAN
