Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, has announced tougher measures against infrastructure vandalism in a recent statement broadcast on Symfoni TV from 1:08.
The Commissioner revealed new legal strategies following a crucial meeting on public infrastructure security. “At the end of the meeting, this decision was made: anybody arrested for vandalizing public infrastructure will be charged to court. Not only that, they will be charged for economic sabotage,” he declared.
Disu explained that this escalation in charges comes after observing the inadequacy of current punishments. “This is because we noticed that whenever we charge them to court, the punishments given to them are so minute that we keep recycling these criminals,” he stated.
The Commissioner detailed the current lenient penalties, noting, “Most of the time, they are given community service, flogged with 24 strokes of the cane. Sometimes they get fined as for N2,000 or N5,000.”
Highlighting the severe risks posed by vandalism, Disu cited specific dangers: “Their activities are dangerous enough to cause harm or even death to residents of the Federal Capital Territory. For example, they remove manholes, and while driving at night, you may not know it has been removed, leading to fatal accidents.”
He concluded by emphasizing the new approach: “To address this, they will now be charged with economic sabotage and, if applicable, attempted murder.”
This development signals a significant shift in the FCT’s approach to combating infrastructure vandalism, moving from minor penalties to more severe criminal charges.
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