The FCT Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Olusola Odumosu has appealed to the Nigerian Government to introduce stiffer penalties for vandals of Critical National Assets and Infrastructure.
Odumosu made the call in a statement released in Abuja on Monday.
He said that the punishment meted on suspected vandals arraigned in court was too minimal, hence the reason why the command continues to witness a high rate of recidivists who are often re-arrested after committing the same crime repeatedly.
“There is need for stiffer penalties for these offenders; most of them, by the time we take them to court, only get very menial penalties such as fines.
“You take vandals to court only to get fined for as low as between 2,000 to 5,000 Naira, while in some cases, they are given community service such as sweeping some portions of the metropolis.
“We arrest vandals but we keep seeing them back on the road vandalising government infrastructure over and over again.
“This is a cause for concern for us and it is so because the punishments or convictions they get cannot deter anybody,” Odumosu said.
The Commandant appealed to the appropriate authorities to look into measures that will instill fear into those with intentions to vandalise public property.
“We have been doing our part, but we don’t have control over the prosecution process such as the hearing dates, adjournment, and eventual conviction.
“The judiciary should help us to do their part because our own is just to take them to court, whatever happens thereafter is not within our power,” Odumosu said.
The Command’s helmsman further explained that its legal team tries its best to transfer suspects to court as at when due, but the Corps has no power over the prompt or timely prosecution of the cases in court.
“We don’t usually waste time in tackling matters that we feel require prosecution as we are guided by the extant laws which stipulate that you cannot keep a suspect beyond a certain number of hours, which is 48 hours.
“And so whenever we have suspects in our custody, we always move swiftly into action by carrying out immediate and appropriate investigation before taking the matter to court.
“There are times when cases are adjourned and other times we find it difficult to even get a date for hearing, all this we don’t have control over,” he said.
Odumosu said that the implementation of strict and timely punishment for vandals will further boost the morale of personnel to work diligently in arresting criminals.
“Stiffer penalties will further encourage my officers and men that are losing their sleeps; patrolling and surveying every nooks and crannies of the FCT to make more arrest, knowing that their efforts will not go down the drain,” Odumosu admonished.