Police arrest three suspected electricity cable thieves

Three people are now in Police net in Eket, Akwa Ibom, for allegedly vandalising substations in the area.

They were apprehended by the community vigilance group at Ikot Uso at the substations.

Mr John Onyi, an official of Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, Eket Business Unit, confirmed the theft and arrest on Friday.

He said the company lost 37 transformers in July and 15 transformers in August following a renewed wave of theft of power infrastructure.

He said, “As we speak we lost four transformers in Eket in August; we want to thank Ikot Uso Community for arresting the vandals and handing them over to the police.”

Onyi said the community vigilance group caught them while they were vandalising the armoured cables at substations in Eket and its environs.

He said, “They vandalised five substations at All-Weather road, Asang, Atabong, Hospital road, and Oron.”

He said the company had lost huge revenue because of the vandalism and energy theft.

Onyi urged the various communities to step up surveillance on PHEDC installations, saying

He said, “If we allow the vandals to destroy the power installations, the people will be thrown into darkness.”

Eket Business Unit of PHEDC covers 13 local government areas.