The federal government through the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council has arrested a prominent foreign contractor who vandalises streetlights in Abuja so the government could give him a new contract.
According to AMMC Coordinator, Felix Obuah, who spoke on Tuesday while inspecting repairs and maintenance of some street lights in Abuja, the contractor has been in the habit of vandalising streetlights in the Abuja metropolis to enable him to get contracts from the government to supply new ones.
While Obuah did not mention the name of the contractor, he however said his company was well known, adding that the contractor would soon be charged to court.
“The minister of FCT has given us matching orders to make sure that Abuja is lightened up, and as a matter of fact, I embark on the spot assessment with my team to make sure things work well.
“Abuja is divided into 21 lots and we have discovered that most of those areas have been vandalised while some are undergoing intervention work by my team.
“We are not impressed with the level of vandalisation that had happened in some of those lots. Most of the time, we have been thinking it was scavengers or miscreants that are involved in vandalising the streetlights, not until today that we are able to discover that high level contractors are involved in sabotaging the good efforts of the minister and AMMC.
“We have arrested a very prominent contractor, an expatriate who is involved in vandalising these streetlights to enable them get this contract.One of the expatriates has been arrested and is in detention, there is full evidence to that effect.
“Our report will be submitted to the minister. we must make sure that those vandals and the people buying the items would not go free.
“We can’t be buying and installing while miscreants and expatriates are vandalising it. Sabotaging the good efforts of the government is wrong,” he said.