From Tony Osauzo, Benin
The Traditional ruler and residents of Ugbegun in Esan Central Local Government Area of Edo have cried out over alleged vandalism of Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) cables, a development that has thrown the community into total darkness for over six weeks.
The community also fingered a staff of BEDC caught vandalising armoured cables who was handed over to the police for prosecution but was later said to have been released.
The community alleged that the patriotic action of leaders and vigilantes in apprehending the said BEDC staff and handing him over to the police was behind the reasons the BEDC officials had remained adamant in restoring electricity to the community.
The community said the plan to cover up the crime perpetrated by the said officials has crippled business activities in the community and called on the BEDC management and other relevant authority to come to their aid.
Speaking on the development, the traditional ruler of Ugbegun, His Royal Highness, Samuel Obade (JP) and the Itohan of Ugbegun, Chief Mathew Emiohe, lamented the suffering of the community due to non-availability of electricity occasioned by the cable theft.
“We have been mandated to defend our facilities in our domain and that we have always done. Sometimes in August we increased our vigilance arising from what we are hearing from neighbouring clans and we caught someone in Ikiogbe substation but he ran away. We caught the second person vandalising armoured cable at the sub-station and was handed over to the police.
“This last one that happened was the engineer in charge of Igueben sub-station. The vigilante saw him red-handed. A day before, they saw him take a ladder from someone’s house, climb the high tension and loosen the cable with the pretence that he was clearing grass around the transformer.
Corroborating the position of the traditional ruler, Chief Emiohe called for the immediate restoration of power and said residents have been thrown into total darkness since the theft, adding that they have been victimised for crying out.
Public Relations Officer of Benin Electricity Distribution Company, Evelyn Gbewen, denied knowledge of the incident, saying BEDC had yet be briefed on the matter.