RULAAC CALLS FOR FRESH PROBE INTO N150M TELECOM EQUIPMENT CASE

The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre has called for an independent investigation into the arrest and public parade of four people over alleged vandalism and theft of telecommunications equipment valued at about N150m.

RULAAC made the call in a petition to the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, following the arrests by the Force Criminal Investigation Department Annex in Lagos.

The group’s Executive Director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, said the investigation should be conducted by a team outside the immediate investigators handling the case.

RULAAC said the independent probe should examine the petitions that led to the investigation, the source of the recovered equipment, alleged damage to surveillance cameras and claims of possible retaliation against a businessman who sought its intervention.

The organisation stressed that its request was not intended to protect anyone found responsible for vandalism, theft or knowingly receiving stolen property.

The case followed a petition received by the FCID on August 11 from lawyers representing ATC Telecommunications Nationwide. The petition alleged that telecommunications facilities in parts of Lagos and the South-East were attacked and vandalised between March and May 2026.

The police said four suspects, including a 17-year-old, were arrested at a shop in Kosofe, Lagos. Recovered items included 52 solar batteries, two surveillance cameras, three small solar panels, two solar meters, a hammer and a chisel.

However, RULAAC said information gathered from interviews raised questions that required independent verification. The group said one businessman linked to the arrests denied involvement in the alleged crimes and claimed he dealt in used and decommissioned telecommunications and inverter batteries obtained from different sources.

RULAAC urged investigators to trace the recovered equipment through serial numbers, inventories and other records to determine whether the items were connected to specific vandalised telecommunications facilities.