A twenty-eight-year-old man identified as Christopher Achi has been sentenced to two years imprisonment for tampering and removing electric cables and other items of the Enugu Electricity Distribution PLC (EEDC) in Ihenu Uburu community.
According to a statement by Head of Communications, EEDC, Mr. Emeka Ezeh, he was sentenced by Justice Choebe Ayua at the Federal High Court Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.
Ezeh said vandalism is a major challenge that is hampering EEDCโs operations, as these vandals usually drain transformer oil, remove feeder pillar unit, intermediate or up-riser cables, transformer winding coil or sometimes even the whole transformer.
Some other items that are vandalised include spans of aluminum conductors and other line fittings such as port insulators and cross-arms.
Before the present case, some vandals have been sentenced to years imprisonment for attacking EEDC installations.
Uchechukwu Maduakor, a native of Ogwu Amanasa, Umuchu, Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, was sentenced to seven years, while in May, 2019, Obasi Nkama Ukpai and Orji Okporie were sentenced to one year and six months.
Ezeh said EEDC is not relenting in its effort to bring vandals to book.
โWe believe that this will serve as a deterrent to many others out there engaging in such act.โ
Customers are therefore advised to be vigilant and not allow these installations within their neighbourhoods vandalised, as they will be inconvenienced once this happens.
They are also encouraged to make use of the companyโs whistleblowing lines (084 700 110; 0814 602 6678) to report any suspicious attempt to the EEDC or to the nearest police station.
