From Manholes To Rail Tracks: Who Profits From Nigeria’s Stolen Infrastructure?
By JOANNA ILUSANMI
Nigeria’s Infrastructure Faces a Second Crisis
NIGERIA’S infrastructure challenge is usually measured in terms of what the country lacks.
There are not enough roads. Rail networks require expansion. Electricity infrastructure remains inadequate. Public facilities in many communities need urgent improvement.
Yet another crisis is unfolding alongside this familiar infrastructure deficit.
Parts of the infrastructure already built are disappearing.
Across the country, manhole covers, railway materials, electrical cables, transformer components, road signs, bridge fittings, streetlights and telecommunications equipment have increasingly become targets for theft and vandalism.
The materials do not simply vanish.
They often enter a commercial chain where public infrastructure can be stripped down, transported, weighed and sold for its metal value.
That raises a question that goes beyond the identity of those caught removing public property.
Who is buying Nigeria’s stolen infrastructure?
Coastal Road Theft Exposes a Wider Problem
The recent theft of infrastructure along the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road has again drawn attention to the scale of the problem.
The Federal Government disclosed that about 1,800 manhole covers were stolen from the Lagos section of the project between January and August 2026.
Authorities also reported the loss of about one kilometre of clear-view fencing and 75 directional signs.
The figures reveal how quickly relatively small items can become a major public loss when theft occurs repeatedly.
A single manhole cover may appear insignificant beside the enormous cost of constructing a major highway.
However, 1,800 stolen covers tell a different story.
Each missing cover creates an additional replacement cost. More importantly, every uncovered opening can expose motorists, pedestrians and motorcyclists to serious danger.
Heavy rainfall can make the risk even greater.
At night, an uncovered manhole can become almost invisible.
The result is that an act committed for the value of a piece of metal can create consequences far beyond the amount eventually paid to the person who stole it.
The Lagos incident is therefore not simply a story about vandalism along one road project.
It reflects a broader national pattern.
When Infrastructure Becomes Scrap
Nigeria has a legitimate scrap-metal and recycling industry.
Thousands of Nigerians earn a living collecting discarded metals and supplying materials for recycling and industrial use.
The existence of that economy is not the problem.
The danger begins when the line between discarded material and deliberately dismantled public property becomes blurred.
A railway component is not ordinary scrap simply because someone has removed it from a railway corridor.
An armoured cable does not become legitimate scrap because it has been cut into smaller pieces.
A manhole cover does not lose its identity as public infrastructure merely because it has been separated from the road where it was installed.
Yet the economics of metal theft makes such distinctions vulnerable.
The person who steals an infrastructure component does not necessarily need to find a buyer interested in its original function.
The object can be sold for what it contains.
Copper can be stripped from cables. Iron can be sold by weight. Other metals can be melted, processed or mixed with legitimate scrap.
The original infrastructure disappears.
Its material value survives.
The Criminal Economy Behind the Theft
This is what makes infrastructure vandalism different from an ordinary act of theft.
It can become part of a commercial system.
The person who removes the material may earn a relatively small amount.
An intermediary may aggregate materials from several sources.
A dealer may purchase the metal alongside legitimate scrap.
The material can then move further into the recycling or processing chain.
Meanwhile, government must return to the original location and spend public funds replacing what was stolen.
The imbalance is striking.
A thief may receive a few thousand naira for material that will cost the government millions to replace, install and secure.
The country therefore suffers twice.
First, it loses the infrastructure.
Then, it spends more money rebuilding it.
This cycle becomes particularly damaging at a time when Nigeria faces competing demands for scarce public resources.
Every naira spent replacing a stolen manhole cover, repairing a transmission tower or restoring vandalised railway equipment is money that could have supported another development project.
Railways, Electricity & Telecommunications Under Threat
The problem extends far beyond roads.
Railway infrastructure has repeatedly faced vandalism.
Tracks, fittings and other components are not simply pieces of metal. They form part of an interconnected system designed to keep trains operating safely.
Their removal can disrupt services and potentially create serious safety risks.
Electricity infrastructure faces similar threats.
Transmission towers, cables and other components have been targeted in different parts of the country.
When such assets disappear, communities can experience prolonged disruptions.
Government agencies and service providers must then deploy personnel and resources to restore damaged facilities.
Telecommunications infrastructure has also become vulnerable.
The theft of cables and other components can interrupt communication services and affect businesses and households.
In each case, the criminal act follows a similar economic logic.
Public infrastructure has a functional value to society.
To the vandal, however, it may simply represent copper, aluminium, iron or another saleable material.
The Market Question
The repeated recovery of stolen infrastructure raises an uncomfortable question.
If criminals continue removing public assets, where do the materials go?
Security agencies have previously recovered stolen public infrastructure from locations associated with scrap trading.
In Abuja, for example, authorities recovered large quantities of stolen assets, including manhole covers, solar streetlights, cables and transformer components, during operations targeting suspected illegal activities.
Such discoveries do not mean that every scrap dealer participates in criminal activity.
Far from it.
Many operators work legitimately within the recycling economy.
However, the presence of identifiable public assets within scrap markets demonstrates why the buying end of the criminal chain deserves greater attention.
A person cannot repeatedly sell large quantities of stolen infrastructure unless a market exists for the material.
That market may involve individuals who know exactly what they are buying.
In other cases, weak documentation may allow suspicious materials to enter the system without adequate questions about their origin.
Either way, the result remains the same.
Stolen public property becomes money.
Why Arresting Vandals Alone May Not Be Enough
Police arrests at the scene of vandalism remain important.
They can stop an immediate crime and provide investigators with leads.
However, focusing only on the person caught removing a cable or manhole cover may leave the larger economic structure untouched.
The investigation should follow the material.
Who transported it?
Who bought it?
Where was it taken?
Who paid for it?
Was the dealer aware of its origin?
Have similar materials appeared at the same location before?
Answering those questions could reveal whether incidents that appear isolated are actually connected through common buyers, transport routes or intermediaries.
A recent investigation by the Lagos State Police Command illustrates the importance of tracing the alleged commercial chain.
Police said a suspect arrested in connection with alleged vandalism on the Third Mainland Bridge reportedly told investigators that stolen cables and other materials were sold to scavengers and scrap dealers.
According to the police account, the alleged network involved the conversion of infrastructure materials into copper that could be sold by weight.
The allegations remain subject to investigation and the legal process.
Nevertheless, they highlight the central economic principle behind infrastructure theft.
The vandal steals because someone may be willing to buy.
Regulation Must Protect Legitimate Operators & Expose Criminals
The solution does not require the destruction of Nigeria’s scrap-metal industry.
Instead, it requires a clearer system for separating legitimate recycling from the trade in stolen infrastructure.
Scrap dealers could face stronger requirements to document major transactions and record the identities of sellers.
Authorities could also create special procedures for materials commonly associated with public infrastructure.
Manhole covers, railway components, armoured cables, transformer parts, road signs and similar items should not enter the market without questions.
Where a seller presents large quantities of such materials without a credible explanation, dealers should be required to report the transaction or suspend the purchase.
This approach would serve two purposes.
It would protect legitimate businesses from being associated with criminal networks.
At the same time, it would make stolen infrastructure more difficult to convert into cash.
Technology & Intelligence Can Close the Gaps
Security agencies also need a more coordinated response.
Patterns of theft should be tracked across states.
Repeated theft of similar materials could reveal common criminal routes or buyers.
Infrastructure owners should also consider identification systems that make public assets easier to trace.
Where practical, components could carry markings, serial numbers or other identifiers.
Surveillance should focus on high-risk locations rather than waiting for another incident to occur.
Rail corridors, bridges, power facilities and major construction projects already known to attract vandals require sustained monitoring.
Communities can also play a critical role.
Residents often notice suspicious activity before authorities do.
Repeated movement of vehicles near railway corridors, roads or electricity installations should attract attention.
Public awareness is therefore part of infrastructure protection.
People must understand that removing a road sign, stealing a manhole cover or cutting a public cable is not a victimless crime.
The Real Cost of a Piece of Scrap
Nigeria cannot measure the cost of infrastructure vandalism solely by the market value of stolen metal.
The real cost includes replacement, repairs, security, service disruptions and, in some cases, human lives.
An uncovered drainage opening can cause a fatal accident.
A damaged railway system can threaten passengers.
A vandalised transmission facility can leave homes and businesses without electricity.
A stolen telecommunications cable can cut off essential communication.
The value of the stolen material may be small.
The public consequences can be enormous.
The theft of 1,800 manhole covers along the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road should therefore serve as more than another headline about vandalism.
It should force a deeper examination of the commercial system that allows stolen infrastructure to move from public spaces into private transactions.
Nigeria cannot solve the problem by arresting vandals alone.
The country must also identify and disrupt the economic networks that make the crime profitable.
That means following the metal from the roadside to the market.
It means investigating not only the person who steals but also those who transport, aggregate, purchase and process suspicious materials.
Until Nigeria makes stolen infrastructure difficult to sell, criminals will continue to see public assets as a source of quick income.
The country may build new roads, expand railways and invest in power and telecommunications.
Yet without stronger protection and a determined effort to close the commercial channels that sustain vandalism, parts of those investments may continue disappearing into the scrap economy.
