Kanji Dam: Police Arrest 12  for Theft, Vandalism of N4.8bn Installations

Laleye Dipo in Minna

The Nigerian Police have announced the arrest of 12 suspects in connection with the theft and vandalism of N4.8bilion installations at the Kainji Dam in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.

The crime, according to a police statement made available to journalists in Minna yesterday, was committed between 2023 and July 2025

According to the statement, the arrests followed a criminal complaint received from Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited, the managers of the dam, which indicated that within July 2025, an inspection was conducted in the navigation lock yard of the Kainji power plant at Kaya junction, and it was discovered that some navigation lock metals and beams were vandalised and stolen.

The police in the statement added that at first, two suspects, Shaibu Abu Sufyan, 35, of New-Bussa and Ibrahim Musa, 31, of the same address were arrested  but after investigation 10 other suspects were also apprehended.

The others arrested in connection with the alleged crime, according to the statement, are Ibrahim Musa, Zayyanu Musa, Jibrin Abdullahi, Hassan Musa Micah Adamu,  Attahiru Umar Abdulrahman Usman, Ismaila Ibrahim, Mubarak Husseini, Adamu Abubakar and Abdullahi Abubakar-all security staff of the Mainstream Energy Commission-and also served under the principal suspect, Abu Sufyan.

The police also claimed in the statement that the stolen and vandalised items were taken to Musa Khalid’s shop in Nasarawa village for weighing to ascertain the value before the payment and sharing of the proceeds.

The modus operandi of Musa Khalid and others was to invade the location with acetylene gas mostly during weekends and at night, vandalized the metals, cut into sizes and used a crane to load the materials into canter trucks for their illegal markets.

Investigations, according to the police statement, further revealed that “Musa Khalid has numerous agents through which these items are sold to different companies in Lagos, Kwara and Osun States.”

It was discovered during investigations that the plant’s store and other manhole covers were also tampered with by the suspects resulting in heavy equipment valued at N12.5million and another N11.5million illegally removed.

The statement concluded that the investigation is, however, ongoing for the arrest of others, “such as the scrap dealers and other collaborators.”