Police Nab 12 Over N4.8bn Kainji Power Plant Vandalism
Police Nab 12 Over ₦4.8bn Kainji Power Plant Vandalism
The Niger State Police Command has arrested 12 suspects over alleged criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, and vandalism of navigation metal lock yards and beams at the Kainji Power Plant, valued at over ₦4.8 billion.
Police Public Relations Officer, SP Wasiu Abiodun, disclosed that the suspects, all employees of the power plant, were arrested following a complaint from Mainstream Energy Solutions Ltd. on August 12, 2025. They were transferred from New Bussa Division to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Minna for further investigations.
SP Abiodun said preliminary inspections carried out in July 2025 revealed that navigation lock metals and beams worth over ₦4.8 billion were vandalised and stolen by unknown persons. The initial arrests involved two security supervisors, Shaibu Abu Sufyan, 35, and Ibrahim Musa, 31, both of New Bussa.
He explained that Abu Sufyan initially denied the allegation but later confessed when confronted with evidence, leading to the arrest of other accomplices, including Zayyanu Musa, Jibrin Abdullahi, Hassan Musa, Micah Adamu, Attahiru Umar, Abdulrahman Usman, Ismaila Ibrahim, Mubarak Husseini, Adamu Abubakar, and Abdullahi Abubakar (a.k.a Zuma).
“Investigations revealed that the suspects, along with other security personnel and scrap dealers, conspired to steal the metals and sell them to companies in Lagos, Kwara, and Osun states. Over ₦12.5 million in transactions were traced between Sufyan and scrap dealer Musa Khalid, while over ₦11.5 million was traced between Musa and Khalid,” the PRO said.
He added that the suspects usually carried out the operation at night during weekends, using acetylene gas to vandalise the metals, cutting them into sizes, and loading them onto trucks with a crane. The illegal activities reportedly spanned from 2023 to 2025.
The police said investigations are ongoing to apprehend other scrap dealers and collaborators, adding that further updates would be made public as the probe progresses.