Alleged 2nd Niger bridge vandalism: Police begin investigation

The Police Command in Anambra says it has commenced investigation into the alleged vandalism of the second Niger bridge that is linking Asaba and Onitsha in Delta and Anambra respectively.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, made this known in an interview with the newsmen on Tuesday in Onitsha.

Ikenga said that he was 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 Aug. 4, 2023 by a Joint Task force of Anambra and Delta state Police Command as part of efforts to make the bridge safe for road users, he said that the operation was still ongoing.

He, however, said that he was yet to confirm if the video was a recent development or not.

Supreme News 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, the Chief Press Secretary to the Minister of Works, David Umahi, simply said that security action had been taken and he was not ready to disclosed further information.

Also speaking, Anambra Commissioner for Information, Mr Paul Nwosu, said that the incident of the alleged vandalism on 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 an indication of nefarious human being 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 noticed 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 condemn iron, but this one is not a condemn iron, this one is not a disposed iron.

“These are irons that are actively in use, to make sure that people enjoyed the brand new road that federal government put for us to enjoy, but security agencies particularly the police have been on patrol in that area,” he said.

The commissioner said that it had long been discovered that some thieves had been carrying out their nefarious activities on that bridge.

He said that a unit of mobile police would stationed on the bridge to forestall future occurrence.