Enugu Disco condemns South-East's rising vandalism

 Concern over the rise in the destruction of its electrical facilities throughout the South-East area has been voiced by the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Plc. The organization expressed its dismay at the most recent development, in which vandals are now draining transformer oil, putting the transformer at risk of exploding if power is restored. Anambra, Imo, Enugu, Abia, and Ebonyi are the five states in the South-East that receive energy from the EEDC. In a statement released on Thursday, the head of corporate communications for EEDC, Mr. Emeka Ezeh, said that in an effort to combat the trend of equipment vandalism, eight suspects had been detained for allegedly attacking the company's power equipment and had been turned over to the police for a thorough investigation and potential prosecution. Ezeh claimed that the assistance of clients and other important stakeholders, such as security personnel, made the arrest feasible.

He said that while vandalizing aluminum conductors owned by EEDC along Ohatekwe Road, Ishieke, the vigilante group at Ndiagbo Ofeke, in the Ebonyi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, detained one Chinonso Mgbada, a resident of Ugwuachara. Onyebuchi Uchechi was detained by the locals in Umuobia Olokoro, Umuahia, Abia State, for damaging aluminum conductors in their neighborhood, while Chiwendu Chukwuemeka and Azubuike Chinemere were detained by vigilantes in Onuinyan Village in Bende, Bende Local Government Area, Abia State, for damaging aluminum conductors that belonged to EEDC. Okechi Chukwuebuka, 24, a resident of Umudim village in Nnewi and a native of Aguleru in Anambra East Local Government Area, was detained by vigilantes for damaging a transformer in Ozubulu, according to Ezeh's detailed account. Meanwhile, Okechukwu Okafor and Toochukwu Ike were detained by Amuzam residents in Ugbuawka Community, Nkanu East Local Government Area, Enugu State, for damaging five spans of high tension wires in their neighborhood. He also revealed that one Ikechukwu Okafor and his shuttle bus with the registration number TTK165XA were detained by Ndiogbuonyeoma Ndiuche Arond.

In addition to harming energy consumers, he claimed that vandalism also took a financial toll on the distribution firm, which had to spend a significant amount of money repairing damaged property while losing billions of naira in revenue. "Previously, the vandals have been carting away armored cables and bare conductors, but in recent years, we record more occurrences of drained transformer oil, which poses more hazard to the transformer because it could get damaged when it is powered up without any oil in it," the statement read. When vandalism occurs, consumers are left in the dark, their homes and businesses are impacted as well, and losses are reported along with the inconveniences that come with no energy.

"Even if the number of unattended incidents is increasing daily, we have spent close to N300m this year alone on the replacement and restoration of vandalized facilities to make sure our clients are not left in the dark. In order to prevent some unscrupulous elements from keeping our customers in the dark, especially as we approach the holiday season, we thus ask to them to be extra attentive and protect the energy installations that are meant to serve them. Although the facilities are owned by EEDC, customers are urged to view them as a part of their own property. Once vandalism occurs, the facilities become unavailable until the problem is resolved.

"We would not hesitate to encourage other neighborhoods/areas to organize and set up a local security outfit that will help safeguard the facilities that serve them among other duties," the statement reads. "While acknowledging and appreciating the efforts of the Community Vigilante groups and other security agencies in curbing the menace of vandalism."

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