The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Cross River Command, on Wednesday announced the arrest of a 27- year old scavenger, Usman Umaru, with cash and electrical parts worth N2 million.
The State Commandant, Charles Brown, made this known in a press conference.
He said the scrap collector was arrested in an uncompleted one-story building, which they vandalised in Calabar on Monday night.
He said while the scrap collector was arrested, his accomplice whose name he identified as Yusuf, escaped.
According to Brown, Usman and his accomplices have been at the heart of vandalisation of houses, especially unoccupied buildings and street lights in Calabar and its environs.
“Working on intelligence, we stormed the one-story building and caught Usman, while his partner escaped.
“He was caught with N250,000 cash and bundles of various sizes of electrical wires, switches, lamp holders, among other items, alongside various drugs and charms during the arrest.
“He has confessed to the crime and will be charged to court as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, Brown, who called for an urgent action against scrap collectors, said most of them used the business as an avenue to commit various offences.
“What they do with this business during the day is to scout for where to steal at night and nothing more. Most of them have become a menace to society.
“My take is that there must be a way to regulate their activities to protect the genuine ones among them,” he stated.
The commandant, however, said that the command had declared war against vandalism, cable theft and illegal diversion of crude oil across the state.
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He said since his assumption of office in the state, he had been able to curb the spate of illegal crude oil diversion.
He said in spite of logistics challenges, the command under his watch had recorded successes in its core mandate.