Manhole cover thieves expose security lapses in Nigeria’s National Assembly complex

Bayonle Jacob*, a parliamentary safety officer, was on a routine patrol close to the Nationwide Meeting annexe constructing at about 2 a.m. final February when he encountered a bunch of criminals stealing manhole covers.

They overpowered and stabbed him in his proper arm. They tied his palms and legs with a rope earlier than making away with a number of heavy manhole covers.

Because the assault, Mr Jacob has prevented patrolling the realm of the advanced throughout darkish hours.

“I didn’t know they had been armed. I used to be making an attempt to scold them, however certainly one of them simply moved in direction of me and stabbed me. They had been about six and armed with weapons. I needed to run away, however they tied me with rope. My colleagues rescued me within the morning after the thieves went away with the manhole covers.

“Since that incident, I’ve all the time tried to not be on that aspect at midnight once more. Sure, even a few of our folks have stayed away too,” he instructed PREMIUM TIMES.

Manhole cowl theft is rampant in Abuja, the Nigerian capital. The heavy iron covers designed to guard underground utilities are disappearing at an alarming charge. They’re typically stolen at evening and offered to scrap metallic sellers, particularly when metallic costs surge.

The results might be horrible. Open manholes have turned highways and pedestrian walkways into lethal traps, endangering the lives of motorists and passers-by.

To fight the risk, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has intensified its crackdown on syndicates concerned within the illicit commerce.

Because the starting of the yr, at the least 53 suspects have been arrested. The police raids have additionally uncovered firearms and illicit substances. This means that the theft of manhole covers just isn’t an remoted crime however a part of a broader community of felony actions.

Regardless of these efforts, manhole cowl thieves proceed to function, even inside the Nationwide Meeting advanced, which must be one of the safe buildings within the nation.

Escape route

Mr Jacob stated the theft gang that attacked him drove a car they parked exterior the Nationwide Meeting gate.

“They got here with a automobile parked exterior the gate. I didn’t see the automobile, however I heard the sound of the ignition,” he acknowledged.

The Nationwide Meeting is guarded by a number of safety companies, together with the Nigeria Police Power, the State Safety Companies (SSS), and the Sergeant-at-Arms, a parliamentary safety unit.

Personnel of those safety outfits are stationed at strategic places throughout the premises. But, this has not deterred criminals from executing their operations.

PREMIUM TIMES’ findings revealed the rising incidents of manhole cowl thefts on the advanced.

At the least 10 manhole covers have been stolen from the principle car parking zone, and one other 26 are lacking alongside the street linking the annexe constructing to the “White Home,” the place the chambers of the Senate and the Home of Representatives are situated. Additionally, 10 manholes had been uncovered alongside the street connecting the Nationwide Meeting Library to the “White Home.”

Mr Jacob stated he suspected that the identical gang that attacked him was accountable for different lacking manhole covers throughout the advanced.

The Nigerian parliament is the guts of the nation’s democracy, but the safety vulnerabilities of its constructing are obvious. If against the law like a manhole cowl theft might be carried out repeatedly within the coronary heart of Nigeria’s highest legislative establishment, it raises issues in regards to the nation’s general safety framework.

Different crimes at NASS

Nevertheless, the safety breaches on the Nationwide Meeting transcend stolen manhole covers.

In August final yr, Yusuf Gusau*, a employee on the federal parliament, was a sufferer of one other safety lapse when his automobile was stolen from the principle car parking zone.

Mr Gusau left his workplace round 4:20 p.m., solely to return and discover his automobile lacking.

“It was a really dangerous day. I received to the park and couldn’t discover my automobile. I believed I parked on the mistaken place, however I moved round earlier than I lastly believed that my automobile was stolen,” he instructed PREMIUM TIMES.

Regardless of safety officers reviewing CCTV footage, the perpetrator has but to be arrested.

“The case was reported to the safety unit. They checked on the CCTV, and certainly one of them later instructed me that they noticed a man opening my automobile and that they’d get him, however he has not been arrested,” Mr Gusau stated.

In the meantime, upkeep staff on the Nationwide Meeting have reported quite a few thefts of precious workplace gadgets, together with tv units, air conditioners, electrical cables, and wires.

Emmanuel Akpan*, a upkeep division employee, described the theft scale as excessive.

“I can not rely the variety of theft circumstances we’ve seen to date; they’re too quite a few. As individuals who work within the upkeep division, we’re all the time privileged to find out about all these thefts, and among the circumstances we’ve heard concerned the theft of televisions, air conditioners, cables, and wires,” he stated.

The police are finally accountable for Nigeria’s inside safety, together with within the NASS advanced. The Abuja police spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, didn’t reply to repeated calls and textual content messages to her telephone for touch upon our findings. Additionally, the Sergeant-at-Arms, whose sole accountability is the safety of the advanced and the individuals and supplies inside it, refused to remark when approached. The designated official on the workplace of the Sergeant-at-Arms, Ndagi Mohammed, stated he doesn’t have solutions to our questions.

Historical past of safety failures

This isn’t the primary time criminals have exploited safety weaknesses in Nigeria’s legislative advanced. In 2018, thugs invaded the Senate chamber and stole the mace, which is the image of parliamentary authority. The assailants reportedly escaped the premises in a black SUV with out going through any resistance. Though the mace was later discovered, the thieves weren’t caught.

The insecurity within the parliamentary constructing is a symptom of a bigger menace, safety knowledgeable Yahuza Getso instructed PREMIUM TIMES.

He warned that open manholes inside the Nationwide Meeting compound pose bodily risks and create potential safety loopholes that criminals can exploit.

Mr Getso, the managing director of the Abuja-based Eagle Built-in Safety and Logistics Firm Ltd, warned that criminals might use open manholes as hideouts or storage areas for weapons earlier than launching assaults.

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“The criminals can simply use it as a strategic approach of finishing up their operations. When someone falls into that gap, the particular person can simply be trapped. Criminals also can comply with their targets, making an attempt each potential means to power the particular person into one of many manholes, and on the similar time, they will use it as a hideout.

“They’ll additionally use the manhole to cover their weapons in order that when it’s darkish, they will simply take these weapons and different issues to go and assault folks, most likely these near the areas. That’s how they rob folks, particularly those that usually shut late,” he defined.

Mr Getso additionally warned that criminals can retailer confidential paperwork stolen from the Nationwide Meeting in open manholes.

“Lack of confidentiality, whereby delicate paperwork or info could also be stolen or compromised throughout the theft, and might be stolen and stored within the manholes within the odd durations and to be transported out simply,” he acknowledged.

He stated the breach of safety on the Nationwide Meeting to steal manhole covers portrayed a foul picture for the nation and urged the federal government to deal with the difficulty shortly.

* The names of sources asterisked on this story have been altered to guard the individuals from victimisation by their employers.