Tackling vandalism with law

  Tackling vandalism with law

In their presentations at the last Town Hall meeting in Abuja, senior government officials lamented the threat vandalism poses to the nation’s quest for development and called on the National Assembly to enact laws with stiffer penalties to tame the menace. Law experts are, however, of the view that there are adequate laws already in place, but that the problem was with the absence of political will to apply the laws. ERIC IKHILAE reports.

At a recent Town Hall meeting, organized in Abuja by the Federal Ministry of Information, senior government officials regretted the negative impact of wanton vandalisation of public assets on the nation’s efforts at development.

Ministers for Works and Housing; Transportation, Aviation, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Communication and Digital Economy, Tunde Fashola, Rotimi Amaechi, Hadi Sirika, Mohammed Bello and Isa Pantami painted detailed pictures of the effect of vandalism on their various sectors.

The startling picture

Minister for Information Lai Mohammed provided a backgrounder to the day’s discussion. Mohammed lamented that in spite of the effort of the current administration at infrastructure development, despite the paucity of funds, some individuals were engaging in senseless destruction of public assets across the country.

“Despite a drastic drop in revenues and competing priorities, especially that of tackling insecurity, the Federal Government had invested heavily in providing new infrastructure in addition to reconstruction and rehabilitating of existing ones,” Mohammed said, regretting that such laudable efforts of the government were, in recent times, being thwarted by some unpatriotic citizens, who engage in wanton destruction of critical national infrastructure, thereby depriving the greater majority of the benefits of such assets.

He identified some recent cases to include the destruction of rail lines, oil pipelines and facilities; offices of government agencies, including the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Fashola listed the federal highway infrastructure, vandalised in recent times to include the Otedola bridge, Kara bridge, Tamburawa bridge, Obalende bridge, among others, and on which, he said, the government has expended over N4 billion to repair.

The Works and Housing Minister also identified the problem of encroachment on the Right of Way by members of the public, erection of illegal bumps on the federal highway by some communities, non-removal of broken down/’accidented’ vehicles, damage to road directional signs and other road furniture, unauthorised use of under bridge and major setbacks.

Fashola said another form in which bridges were abused included the unauthorised conversion of spaces under the bridge to shops and the use of parking spaces for businesses. He condemned the practice of vandalising signages on federal highways across the country, noting that signages erected on the nation’s highways have become targets of some people, who deface them by turning them to billboards for a campaign or in some cases, outrightly cart them away.

Amaechi was particular about the destruction of rail facilities, noting that at least, about 200 cases of rail line vandalism had been recorded in recent times, mostly in the northern region of the country, with the North-central posting the highest number of 50 cases.

He added a more troubling dimension was that foreigners now aid the destruction of rail lines in Nigeria, a position strengthened by the recent apprehension of a Chinese in Jos, the Plateau State capital, vandalising rail lines alongside some Nigerians.

Bello revealed that over 25,000 manhole covers have been stolen on FCT roads by vandals, a practice that poses danger to road users, particularly pedestrians. He said about N2.6 billion was required to replace them.

He added that a more troubling pattern to the problem was that security personnel have, in some instances, been found to connive with criminals in carrying out their crime.

Sirika, who spoke in a similar vein, added: “Unfortunately, we have a very huge work of vandalism of our critical equipment. This poses a threat to our national security assets. The equipment vandalism in aviation is a catastrophe.

“Very high-frequency Radio range, other instruments belonging to Nigerian Meteorological Agency among others in the airports are over destroyed. This is dangerous for flights. It is a serious business, we should not allow it. The National Assembly should quickly enact a law to ensure that those people are punished maximally,” he said.

Impact of vandalism on the nation’s life

Fashola drew attention to the impact of vandalism on the nation’s efforts at growth when he stated that no nation grows beyond the capacity of its infrastructure. He said: “our ability to grow, to develop and to prosper, to get an education and essential to living a good life is tied to the quality and quantity of the infrastructure that we have.”

He added that the money spent in fixing vandalised assets could have been expended on other sectors such as health, education, among others.

Sirika explained that the vandalisation of aviation infrastructure was dangerous for flights, while Ameachi stressed the danger of the destruction of rail assets on passengers’ lives.

State of existing laws

Fashola, who faulted the adequacy of existing laws, noted that though there are existing laws to punish these criminal acts, they are no longer realistic in view of the economic changes that have taken place since when they were enacted and now.

He called for a prompt amendment of the laws so that offenders could be adequately punished.

While Amaechi suggested the introduction of capital punishment to deter the destruction of rail assets, Bello advocated for an effective criminal justice system to eliminate the current delay in the prosecution of offenders by the courts.

Sirika, who urged the National Assembly to legislate stiffer punishment for public asset vandalism, noted that “it is a serious business, we should not allow it. The National Assembly should quickly enact a law to ensure that those people are punished maximally.”

Senator Binos Yaroe, who represented that Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawan, urged the ministers to propose, to the National Assembly, laws they deemed necessary for the crime of vandalism. Yaroe assured that the National Assembly would not hesitate to pass such laws.

Existing laws are adequate

Law experts have, however, expressed discomfort with the lamentations of participants at the Town Hall meeting held on July 7 and the picture of helplessness they painted.

According to them, presentations at the event created the impressions that there are no laws to punish the offence of vandalisation of public assets; that existing laws are inadequate; that the inadequacy of the nation’s criminal justice system and that law enforcement agencies were reluctant/unwilling to act.

A senior official of the Federal Ministry of Justice (who pleaded anonymity) argued that there are sufficient laws to punish any form of vandalism, but that the problems were in the unwillingness of law enforcement agencies to perform their responsibilities; the existing inadequacies in the criminal justice system (where a case could last a decade, and yet remains undecided) and the lack of political will on the part of those in government.

The official identified the Miscellaneous Offences Act of 1984 as one of such laws that are still relevant and adequate to date. He said he was sure participants at the Town Hall meeting did not think of this law, which accounted for their call on the National assembly to enact a new law.

Some provisions of the Miscellaneous Offences Act

The Act, in Section one, details the offences covered, which could only be tried by the Federal High Court. Some of such offences include Willful destruction of public property; arson of a public building, etc; unlawful destruction of highways; tampering with oil pipeline; tampering with electric plant, works, etc; tampering with electric fittings, etc; tampering with telephone wires, etc; tampering with postal matters; arson of cultivated vegetable produce, etc; adulteration of petroleum, petroleum products, etc, among others. The law also punishes “attempt to commit an offence, etc.”

*On willful destruction of public property, the law, in Section 1(3) (a) and (b), provides: “Any person who unlawfully or with intent to destroy or damage any public property removes, defaces or damages any public property shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction:

(a) if the property in question is a building, structure, vehicle or thing whatsoever owned or occupied by the Government of the Federation, or of a State, local government, a department or statutory corporation of the Government of the Federation or of a State, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years without the option of a fine;

(b) if the property in question is a railway line, electric power line, telephone line or a demarcation line on a public highway and the property is damaged or rendered dangerous, impassable or non-functional, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 21 years without the option of a fine.”

*On unlawful destruction of highways, Section 1(6)(a) and (b) provides that: “Any person, who for any purpose whatsoever, willfully, unlawfully or maliciously – (a) causes any damage or authorises any damage to any highway and fails, refuses

or neglects to repair such highway on completion of any work, if any, thereon; or(b) destroys, removes or damages any guard rail or other structure on any highway, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years without the option of a fine.”

*On arson of a public building, etc, Section 1 (4) (a), (b) and (b) provides that: “Any person who willfully or maliciously sets fire to – (a) any public building, dwelling house, office or structure whatsoever, whether completed or not, occupied or not; or (b) any vessel, ship, aircraft, railway track or wagon, or vehicle; or (c) any mine or the working, fittings, or appliances of a mine, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to be sentenced to imprisonment for life.”

*On tampering with an oil pipeline, Section 1(7) (a) and (b) provides that “any person who willfully or maliciously – (a) breaks, damages, disconnects or otherwise tampers with any pipe or pipeline for the transportation of crude oil or refined oil or gas; or (b) obstructs, damages, destroys or otherwise tampers or interferes with the free flow of any crude oil or refined petroleum product through any oil pipeline, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to be sentenced to imprisonment for life.”

*On tampering with electric plant, works, etc, Section 1(9) provides that “any person who unlawfully disconnects, removes, damages, tampers, meddles with or in any way whatsoever interferes with any plant, works, cables, wire or assembly of wires designed or used for transforming or converting electricity shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to be sentenced to imprisonment for life.”

*On tampering with electric fittings, etc, Section 1 (10) provides that “any person who unlawfully disconnects, removes, damages, tampers, meddles with or in any way whatsoever interferes with any electric fittings, meters or other appliances used for generating, transforming, converting, conveyancing, supplying or selling electricity shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 21 years.”

*On tampering with telephone wires, etc, Section 1(11) provides that “any person who unlawfully disconnects, removes, damages, tampers, meddles with or in any way whatsoever interferes with any cable, wire or assembly of wires used for the conveyance of telephone, telegraph, visual messages or images shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 21 years.”

*On tampering with postal matters, Section 1(12)(a) and (b)(i– ii) states that “Any person who – (a) willfully, unlawfully or maliciously stops, dumps, intercepts, tampers or meddles with or otherwise retards the delivery of any postal matter or telegram shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction for a term not exceeding fifteen years; or (b) willfully, unlawfully or maliciously- (i) stops, intercepts, tampers or meddles with any postal matter with intent to search or rob it; or (ii) secretes or destroys any postal matter or telegram or any part thereof whether or not such postal matter so secreted or destroyed contains money or other thing whatsoever, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 21 years.”

*On arson of cultivated vegetable produce, etc, Section 1(5) states that “any person who willfully or maliciously sets tire to any stack of cultivated vegetable produce or mineral or vegetable fuel shall be guilty of an offence, and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years without the option of a fine.”

Another lawyer, Dr. Muktah Sanni, argued that the problem with vandalism was not that existing laws were inadequate. Sanni argued that besides the Miscellaneous Offences Act, which contains enough stringent punishments, he was sure that there are other hidden enactments that address the challenge of wanton destruction of public assets.

“For me, I think the problem is either those in government are not aware of these laws and are not ready to seek assistance from those, who know or that they simply prefer to chase shadows as they are currently doing,” he said.

An Abuja-based lawyer, Richard Okey, faulted Amaechi’s call for the death penalty, arguing that corruption and brigandage in public office and among politicians have not been subjected to capital punishment why would he suggest such for vandals?

He queried the distinction between a rail track thief and a public office holder thief, who appropriates funds meant for public infrastructure like healthcare, roads, pipe-borne water, military equipment, payment of pensions, among others, noting that there are really no major differences as a result of the action of the rail track thief and thieves, who steal from the public till, denying the majority of the populace infrastructural development, provision of amenities, among others.

Okey added: “The effects of public office stealing are so grave that the death penalty as a sanction will be mostly inadequate. Just like Amaechi could see the effects of rail track bandits, to say he was not quantifying the material cost, but the lives that would be lost, so also are the results of official corruption so practically and vividly manifest.”