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From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
The Magistrate Court 3, sitting in Abayi, Aba, Abia State has remanded a staff of APL Electric Company Limited (APLE), owned by Geometric Power in prison custody over alleged energy theft.
The accused, Ifeaka Anagha, an APLE operations and maintenance superintendent (OMS), was, according to intelligence received in January, alleged to have conspired with a Maximum Demand (MD) customer, Sunday Anudu, to engage in energy theft.
Information has it that Anudu operates a business called Big Fish, located on Fish Avenue, off Umuojima Road, Osisioma, and that the energy theft was coordinated during late and early morning production hours, resulting in revenue loss for APLE.
The prosecutor said when APLE management notified the Osisioma Police Division, a joint monitoring team comprising APLE’s Geometric Security Services (GSS) and Revenue Protection Department (RPD) was formed to work with the police.
“On Tuesday, March 10, at approximately 8:45pm, the joint team arrested the OMS, Ifeaka Anagha, at the MD customer’s facility. An aide to the MD customer was also arrested after reportedly denying the monitoring team access to verify the meter.
“Subsequent checks by the RPD team at the premises indicated that the customer was on supply and production, but the meter registered zero consumption across all three phases.
“The suspects were taken to the Osisioma Police Station. The MD’s customer, Sunday Anudu, has been invited by the police for questioning”, the Prosecutor said.
Anagha was subsequently charged to the Magistrate’s Court 3 in Abayi, Aba under the Miscellaneous Offences Act.
When the charges were read to him, the defendant pleaded not guilty.
The presiding Magistrate declined to try the case under the Miscellaneous Offences Act, ruling that it should be tried under the Criminal Code as the complainant is a private company.
The court, however, granted the defendant bail under stringent conditions, which were not immediately met. Consequently, the defendant was remanded at the Aba Correctional Centre, pending the fulfillment of the bail terms, while the case was adjourned to April 22, for hearing.
