A Chinese national is among the vandals of Nigeria Railway Tracks arraigned today by the Nigeria Police. The suspected railway vandals appeared at the Federal High Court sitting in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital.
18 out of the 30 suspects earlier arrested were in court but Hon. Justice Nehizena Afolabi adjourned the trial to July 7, 2021, for hearing and ordered that all suspects appear on the next date. The police are charging the suspects for conspiracy, economic sabotage, and terrorism while the lawyer of the Chinese national is charged for aiding, facilitating, and abetment of terrorism for offering a bribe to the police to aid the escape of his client.
The police prosecutor Bale Nimnan said the Nigeria Police Force is not treating the case with laxity.
He said, “We have made arrests, we have investigated, and we have charged. So, we can’t just come to court without anything on the ground. The matter has been investigated; we believe we have a case that is why we are in court. We have a case, and we will prove it.
“The President is trying to build formidable rail tracks and some Nigerians in collaboration with other foreign nationals and companies are sabotaging our efforts. We have a case, and we will prosecute diligently,” Nimnan said.
The counsel to some of the defendants, Innocent Lagi said he is hoping for success when he stated, “We hope that through this process both the system and everybody is given an opportunity for justice.
“An allegation remains an allegation until it is proven. We are hoping that the high-sounding allegations are not taken as proved. So, we are looking forward to a trial and we are hoping that at the end of the day that we will succeed,” Lagi added.
