Nearly 2 Years After THE WHISTLER Report, NSCDC Moves To Curb Theft Of Manhole Covers In Abuja

More than one year after THE WHISTLER reported the exposure of FCT residents to danger due to theft of manhole covers by scavengers, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) is taking steps to curb the menace.

The NSCDC Commandant-General, Ahmed Abubakar Audi, on Monday directed his men to clamp down on manhole cover thieves to prevent further exposure of motorists in the federal capital to danger.

Manhole covers, otherwise known as maintenance hole covers, are removable plates that cover openings in a paved area, allowing access to a sewer, underground vault or pipe.

This website reported that increasing theft of the discs by scrap iron dealers was putting pedestrians and drivers at risk of accidents.

Speaking during a visit to the Minister of FCT, Muhammad Musa Bello, Audi directed his men to end the theft of manhole covers, describing the trend as disturbing.

“We are ready to deploy a very robust security strategy to stop manhole theft, this is very disturbing and it has to stop.

“We have seen that stealing of these items occur even on presidential routes. I assure you that we will increase surveillance on those manholes and deploy our tactical team for public infrastructure protection.

“We are in charge of protecting critical national assets and infrastructure and manholes are considered as part of such infrastructure, we are going to deploy accordingly,” the CG said.

Responding, the FCT Minister said the scale of vandalism of manhole covers, telecommunication installations and solar panels in the last few months in the FCT is unprecedented.

He therefore called for increased deployment of security personnel to protect public infrastructure and improve security of the nation’s capital.

Bello said “because of the scale and size of the Fct, your organisation needs additional support and the deployment of your tactical team is very important.

“Of course your core mandate includes protection of public assets, registration, monitoring and supervision of private security companies among other duties.

“Due to the unique position of the FCT, I want to suggest that you really deploy extra men and women across the city to target infrastructure protection.

“And simply because these facilities are very expensive, we are very pleased that you are committing your service to provide a tactical team to do it.”