By Sunday Nweke, Enugu
A suspected vandal, identified as Samuel Umenze, has been arrested for allegedly vandalising cables belonging to the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Plc.
Umenze, a 100-level student of Agric Extension at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, was arrested on the school premises by the institution’s security.
He was allegedly caught with large quantities of peeled cables and equipment used for the crime.
The Head of Corporate Communications, EEDC, Mr Emeka Ezeh, in a statement on Friday, said the incident happened on Tuesday.
According to him, Umenze, while confessing to the crime, claimed he carried out the criminal act alone at night and sold his loot to a buyer in Onitsha, Anambra State.
Ezeh confirmed that investigation was already ongoing to arrest the receiver of the items.
In a related development, on Monday, at Oshituma, Ohaukwu Local Government Area, Ebonyi State, three vandal suspects identified as Fleke Kingsley, Egbo Friday, and Okefe Stanley, were also arrested by the community vigilantes.
The suspects were arrested while in possession of three bags containing about six spans of aluminium conductors belonging to the EEDC.
Ezeh lamented the increasing rate at which EEDC facilities were being attacked by vandals and called on customers to remain vigilant and ensure the electricity installations serving them were not attacked by vandals.
He said, “There is no day that passes without a report of a vandalised facility in our network.
“This is inconveniencing our customers and making us deploy the scarce resources meant for other projects into the replacement of the vandalised items, and this is no longer sustainable.
“We should all work together as stakeholders to checkmate this ugly trend.”
Ezeh confirmed that the arrested vandals had been handed over to the police for detailed investigation and possible prosecution