For the umpteenth time, criminals element in various forms have invaded the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja where they have stolen electrical cables plunging the stadium into total blackout.
An impeccable source told Blueprint Sports last night that “the vandals have unfettered access to the facility’s cable after Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) disconnected the Stadium from national grid following backlog of unpaid debts to the power distribution company.
According to the source, the incidents were not discovered until few days later after the robbers have carted away the cables to the consternation of the Stadium managers.
With Police manning the gate and the presence of private Security outfit employed by the Ministry of Sports Development to secure the facility, many stakeholders say it’s a mystery how these cables were stolen and successfully taken out of the stadium without detection.
Following the series of unchecked vandalization of the stadium’s property, organizer of sporting event in the arena has been forced to rent generators to power their various event in the Stadium.
Over the years, the Moshood Abiola Stadium has suffered several acts of theft. Few years ago, 27 air conditioners were stolen from the Stadium up till today the perpetrators vanished into thin air.
The Stadium witnessed her worst vandalization in September 2024 after Nigeria lost to Ghana in 2026 World Cup qualifier match. The then Sports Minister, Sunday Dare had to inaugurate a committee to investigate the incident.
The Stadium also serves as office to the Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh and several organisations.
The SA to the Hon. Minister on Media, Diana Mary Nsan, promised to get back to our correspondent for her reaction (as of the time filing this report 7pm) but she never did despite numerous message sent to her mobile.
Moshood Abiola National Stadium is a multipurpose stadium with 60,000-seat capacity.
The Stadium was constructed in 2003 to host the All Africa Games costing a whopping $360m and one of the most expensive stadium in the world .
Its playing turf was recently refurbished by business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote to the tune of $1bn, yet can’t host any high profile fifa sanctioned international match.
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