According
to the Corps Commandant, Mr. Abafi Gabriel, who made this disclosure to
journalists on Friday, any person involved in reconnection of power that had been
disconnected by PHCN officials would be severely dealt with.
He
noted that the 14 people were arrested for mounting PHCN poles, bye-passing
Pre-paid Meters to stop the power from reading, among others.
Gabriel
noted: “The 14 people arrested were caught in the act of mounting the pole
belonging to PHCN and tampering with the properties of the company. Those who
by-passed their Pre-paid Meters clearly do not want to pay bills accrued to
them. Some of the suspects illegally reconnected meters that had been
disconnected by PHCN officials.”
Gabriel
explained that NSCDC wanted members of the public to know that tampering with
PHCN items, was tantamount to economic sabotage.
He
said that those in the habit of mounting electric poles should desist, adding
that NSCDC officials’ eagle eyes would henceforth be on them.
One
of the suspects, Yusuff shittu 32, residing in Governor Road Ikotu, said he
mounted the electric pole in the area he has his shop at Okota because he
wanted to do an act of good deed.
His
words: “Yes, I was caught by PHCN officials while I was trying to reconnect an
electric wire. The electric wire fell after a container attempted to drive pass.
I’m an electrician but I don’t do PHCN reconnection. I only wanted to save
others who might be accidentally hurt by the electric wire. People in the area
alerted me, begging that I should assist them to fix it back.”
The
Head of Communication Strategy Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company, Mr.
Apekun Adeyanju, said: “We’re waging a war in collaboration with NSCDC. We’re not
going to relent until this war is won. As I’m speaking to you, we have over
8000 electricity that had been by-passed. These items belong to the government.
Nigerians shouldn’t be tampering with them because it’s a criminal act. Once a
metre is by-passed, it stops reading. This means the bill for the consumption
of that power, which is supposed to be accrued to the consumer, will not be! There’ll
be no evidence to show for the use of the power. We don’t have the right to
arrest anybody. This is why we’re synergising with NSCDC. I want to use this
medium to urge anybody who is in the habit of committing such acts to desist before
the wrath of the law falls on them.”
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