The Anambra State Police Command says it has commenced investigation into the alleged vandalism of the Second Niger Bridge that is linking Asaba in Delta State and Onitsha in Anambra State.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria.
The Superintendent of Police spoke with NAN on Tuesday in Onitsha.
Ikenga said that he was yet to confirm the incident.
He said: “I have not confirmed the incident, but we have escalated it to the Divisional Police Officer 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 that the operation was still ongoing.
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He, however, said that he was yet to confirm if the video was a recent development or not.
NAN reports that a man was seen in a viral video narrating how some fittings connecting the Second Niger Bridge were allegedly removed by some suspected scavengers.
When contacted on the development, Uche Orji, the Chief Press Secretary to the Minister of Works, David Umahi, simply said a security action had been taken and he was not ready to disclose further information.
Also speaking, Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Paul Nwosu, said that the incident of the alleged vandalism on the Second Niger Bridge had been brought to the attention of the Highway Department of the Federal Ministry of Works.
According to Nwosu: “This is not to say that the state government is not concerned about the theft of those irons.
“Police are aware of the theft.
“Before now, there has been an 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’s not as if the security agencies are not on the alert, but just when it appears that they have moved to oversight in a different place, these thieves will strike.
“You know people who gathered condemned iron, but this one is not a condemned iron, this one is not a 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 up for us to enjoy, but security agencies, particularly the police, have been on patrol in that area.”
The Commissioner said that it had long been discovered that some thieves had been carrying out their nefarious activities on that bridge.
Nwosu said that a unit of mobile police would be stationed on the bridge to forestall future occurrence.