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By Adewale Sanyaolu
Ikeja Electric Plc, has lamented the rising wave of vandalism of its power infrastructure asset.
Head of Corporate Communications of the power utility firm, Kingsley Okotie, at a recent stakeholder engagement restated the company’s commitment to effective and efficient service delivery in 2025, stressing that vandalism of its installations across the state in the year 2024 resulted in severe service disruptions to some of its esteemed customers.
He said that the rise in vandalism of the company’s assets, especially in Epe community and it’s environs is not only alarming but more worrisome because law-abiding citizens and legitimate customers are being deprived access to reliable power supply with its attendant impact on the socio-economic activities of businesses and livelihoods.
Okotie recalled a recent incident at Ikorodu, where the company’s Ariel Bundle Cable (ABC) which is an integral part of the newly introduced Intelligence Data Box (IDB) technology solution for pre-paid meters was vandalised. He said that the cable was cut and the insulation of the ABC got damaged, while a new service wire was illegally connected to steal electricity into an apartment in Jubilee Estate, Odogunyan, Ikorodu, Lagos State.
He said the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) arrested Akintola Olayinka and Obigbo Moses (Defendants) and they were charged at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos on December 11, 2024 on two-counts of conspiracy to commit an offence by unlawfully tampering with and damaging property of Ikeja Electric in order to steal energy.
The offence, according to him, is contrary to Section 3(6) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act Cap M17 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and punishable under Section 1 (10) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004. The case was adjourned to the 28th of January 2025 for trial.
Okotie appealed to members of the public, community groups, traditional institutions and security operatives to assist Ikeja Electric in the fight against vandalism and energy theft by exposing criminal hideouts within their respective communities as well as intensify efforts in protecting the company’s assets.
He noted that the unchecked activities of the vandals will continue to foist unpleasant situations of power outage and disruptions of economic activities within the larger society.
“The need to collaborate and partner with security agencies and other critical stakeholders in stemming this unfortunate tide cannot be overemphasized. We are losing a lot of resources to these infractions both in replacing the stolen and/or damaged items and the revenue that would have accrued if the supply wasn’t interrupted.
We encourage the use of our independent channels of communications that enables the public to report the activities of these vandals and energy thieves, anywhere without compromising the safety of the whistleblower” he said.
He urged customers to take advantage of the whistle blowing platform to report energy theft or any act of vandalism through its various telephone numbers and social media handles.
