Two suspects have been charged for allegedly stealing electricity cables in the Ikorodu area of Lagos, belonging to Ikeja Electric Plc.
Henzodaily reports that Ikeja Electric decried constant vandalism of its infrastructure by criminal elements, particularly, in Epe area of Lagos State.
The two suspects, Akintola Monsurat Olayinka and Obigbo Moses were dragged to Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, on 11 December 2024, on two-count charges of “conspiracy to commit an offence by unlawfully tampering with, damaging and meddling with an Ariel Bundle Cable, property of Ikeja Electric Plc; by cutting it in order to steal energy and unlawfully tampering, damaging and meddling with Ariel Bundle Cable contrary to Section 3(6) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act Cap M17 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004; and punishable under Section 1 (10) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004.”
While the case was adjourned to the 28th of January 2025 for trial, the suspects were arrested by personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), on 14th September 2024.
Reacting to the case in a statement to Henzodaily on Monday, the Head of Corporate Communications at Ikeja Electric Plc, Kingsley Okotie, stated that the cable was cut and the insulation of the ABC got damaged, while a new service wire was illegally connected to steal electricity into an apartment in Jubilee Estate, Odogunyan, Ikorodu, Lagos State.
He emphasized that vandalism affects law-abiding citizens and legitimate customers who would be deprived of access to reliable power supply with its attendant impact on the socio-economic activities of businesses and livelihoods.
Okotie appealed to members of the public, community groups, traditional institutions and security operatives to deliberately assist Ikeja Electric in the fight against vandalism and energy theft by exposing their hideouts within their respective communities.
He called for joint efforts in protecting the company’s assets, as the unchecked activities of the vandals would continue to foist unpleasant situations of power outages and disruptions of economic activities within the larger society.
“The need to collaborate and partner with security agencies and other critical stakeholders in stemming this unfortunate tide cannot be overemphasized. We are losing a lot of resources to these infractions both in replacing the stolen and/or damaged items and the revenue that would have accrued if the supply wasn’t interrupted.
“We encourage use of our independent channels of communications that enables the public to report the activities of these vandals and energy thieves, anywhere without compromising the safety of the whistleblower“, he said.