{"id":58981,"date":"2025-01-06T01:18:59","date_gmt":"2025-01-06T01:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=58981"},"modified":"2025-01-06T01:19:24","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T01:19:24","slug":"the-growing-menace-of-manhole-cover-theft-in-abuja","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/01\/06\/the-growing-menace-of-manhole-cover-theft-in-abuja\/","title":{"rendered":"The Growing Menace of Manhole Cover Theft in Abuja"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Abdulkareem A.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A disturbing and dangerous trend is emerging in Abuja: the theft of manhole covers that protect the city’s sewage systems.<\/p>\n

Scrap metal thieves are systematically removing these covers from major roads and expressways, leaving gaping holes that pose serious risks to motorists and pedestrians.<\/p>\n

In high-traffic areas such as the Central Area and the Central Business District (CBD), particularly near landmarks like the Bank of Agriculture, these thefts have become rampant.<\/p>\n

The exposed holes on fast-moving roads are accidents waiting to happen, with vehicles at risk of crashing into them\u2014potentially leading to severe injuries, fatalities, and extensive property damage.<\/p>\n

A concerned citizen recently took to social media to highlight the gravity of the situation, sharing a video that shows vehicles narrowly avoiding these hazardous openings at high speeds.<\/p>\n

The video also served as a plea for urgent intervention from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, and other relevant authorities.<\/p>\n

The primary culprits behind these thefts are believed to be scrap metal scavengers who sell the stolen covers for quick cash.<\/p>\n

While the government is often blamed for infrastructural failures, this crisis underscores a deeper societal issue: acts of recklessness and disregard for public safety by citizens themselves.<\/p>\n

Beyond the immediate dangers to motorists, the open manholes also pose serious threats to pedestrians, especially at night. Without swift action, accidents will continue to rise, and the consequences could be catastrophic.<\/p>\n

Abuja, a city renowned for its rapid development, is now grappling with the challenge of preserving its public infrastructure. The unchecked theft of manhole covers not only endangers lives but also undermines the city’s efforts to maintain order and safety.<\/p>\n

As the number of these open holes increases, so too does the likelihood of a major disaster. The time for action is now\u2014before another avoidable tragedy unfolds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Abdulkareem A. A disturbing and dangerous trend is emerging in Abuja: the theft of manhole covers that protect the city’s sewage systems. Scrap metal thieves are systematically removing these covers from major roads and expressways, leaving gaping holes that pose serious risks to motorists and pedestrians. In high-traffic areas such as the Central Area […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":58982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1689],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-58981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58981"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58983,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58981\/revisions\/58983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}