The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) said on Wednesday that “vandalized railway tracks, slippers, and suspected NNPCL and Water Board pipes” worth billions of naira were recovered during a joint operation involving the Special Intelligence Squad (SIS), and the Kaduna State Command.
The corps added that twelve suspects were arrested during the raid on a syndicate that specialised in the theft, concealment, and recycling of Critical National Assets and Infrastructure (CNAI).
A statement signed by the spokesperson, ACC Afolabi Babawale, reads in part: “Following a viral video showing the massive vandalization of the newly laid Kaduna-Kano rail tracks and old existing tracks, the CG issued a stern directive to the CG’s Special Intelligence Squad (SIS) and the Kaduna State Command to identify, track, and apprehend the perpetrators at all costs.
“In a clinical operation conducted on Tuesday, 12th May 2026, the Commandant General’s Special Intelligence Squad (CG’s SIS), under the strategic leadership of Commandant Apollos Dandaura, in collaboration with the NSCDC Kaduna State Command, stormed and sealed the Kaduna branch of (a company) located at Birnin Yero, Igabi LGA.
“The operation followed weeks of intensive, intelligence-led surveillance. Investigations revealed that the company operated a criminal smokescreen, posing as a scrap-buying entity while actually serving as a hub for receiving vandalized railway materials, NNPC pipes, and Water Board infrastructure.
“The syndicate’s Modus Operandi involved purchasing stolen tracks and pipes from vandals, compressing them into scrap at the Kaduna site to mask their original form, and subsequently transporting them to their head office in Aba, Abia State.
“There, the stolen national assets were melted down and recycled into nails and iron rods to be sold back to the public”.
