Three suspected cable vandals, including a man allegedly in possession of a police identity card, were arrested in the early hours of Tuesday by a local vigilante group in the Demekpe area of Makurdi, Benue State.
A resident of the area, identified simply as Debur, said the suspects were caught around 3:00 a.m. while vandalising electrical cables.
Their activities drew the attention of community members, some of whom attempted to take drastic action.
“Thanks to the vigilance group, the suspects were not lynched.
The youths were angry and wanted to set them ablaze, but the vigilantes quickly alerted police officers from the D Division, who arrived and took the suspects into custody,” he said.
One of the suspects was found with a police identity card bearing the name Innocent Ishaku and ID number 309976, with a photograph attached.
When contacted, Dr. Adakole Elijah, Head of Corporate Communication at Jos Electricity Distribution, confirmed the incident but said the company could not verify the authenticity of the suspect’s police identity.
“It is true that three suspects were apprehended. They will soon be charged in court,” Elijah said.
“However, I cannot confirm if one of them is truly a police officer. Criminals often use fake or stolen identity cards of security personnel.”
Efforts to reach the spokesperson for the Benue State Police Command, DSP Udeme Edet, were unsuccessful.
Calls to her phone went unanswered, and text messages were not returned as of the time of filing this report.