The Niger Delta Development Commission has called on traditional rulers, community leaders and residents across the Niger Delta to take collective responsibility for protecting public infrastructure in their areas, warning that vandalism continues to undermine development efforts meant to benefit the region.

The commission made the call at a Stakeholders’ Forum on Public Infrastructure and Vandalism Prevention held in Port Harcourt on Sunday. Speaking at the event, the NDDC Managing Director, Samuel Ogbuku, who was represented by the Director of Administration and Human Resources, Kelechi Nwelue, said that while government bears the duty of providing basic amenities, the responsibility of protecting them rests with the communities that use them.

Ogbuku explained that when public infrastructure is vandalised, funds originally meant for new projects end up being diverted to repair damaged facilities, a cycle that slows down overall development in the region.

He noted that government’s focus tends to be on building infrastructure, yet the more pressing challenge is ensuring it survives afterward, adding that development strengthens security just as security protects development.

He urged community leaders to stop viewing government projects as property belonging solely to the state and instead treat them as shared community assets that must be guarded against theft and destruction.

The NDDC boss called on residents, youth groups and traditional institutions to take ownership of roads, bridges, electricity facilities, water schemes, schools and health centres within their domains, and to promptly report suspicious activities to the relevant authorities.

He said there was a need to build public awareness around the idea that projects executed by government ultimately belong to the community, stressing that vandalism must become socially unacceptable.

Also speaking at the forum, the NDDC Director of Community and Rural Development, Theophilus Alagoa, lamented that vandals continue to destroy government facilities in communities without anyone stepping forward to take responsibility.

He said the forum was organised specifically to educate residents that such projects are community property that must be protected, describing the vandalisation, theft or destruction of government assets as a serious crime and an act of economic sabotage that raises the cost of maintaining infrastructure while disrupting essential services.

The event facilitator, Ibiyekaribo Inko Tariah, urged participants to propose practical solutions to the recurring problem of vandalism and theft affecting government projects across the Niger Delta.

A statement on the forum was signed by the NDDC Director of Corporate Affairs, Seledi Thompson Wakama.