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From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
The management of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) Plc absorbed its staff accused of cable vandalism by the people of Ugbegun in Esan Central Local Government Area of Edo saying he is not a thief but a staff of the company trying to carry out some maintenance within the facility.
The Managing Director of the company, Mr Deolu Ijose, made the clarification in his statement titled “Clarification Regarding Recent Incidents in Ugbegun” signed and made available to newsmen in Benin.
He said, on Saturday, 2nd September 2023, a dedicated technical staff member of BEDC, received a directive from the Regional Head Technical, instructing him to investigate the continuous feeder tripping, a task he was diligently carrying out on the day in question.
Mr. Ijose said his efforts led him to discover climbers tampering with the feeder, posing a significant safety hazard.
Ijose added that the BEDC staff, promptly reported this fault to the Regional Head and began the process of removing the climbers to prevent further damage, prioritising the safety of the community.
Ijose said, regrettably, some members of the Ugbegun community misunderstood his actions, as he was there to weed off the climbers touching the feeders.
The MD of the company said he left the Distribution Substation (DSS) and returned to the transmission station upon the completion of the route patrol, stressing that, surprisingly, some of the community members brought in the police to arrest the said staff on the grounds that cables were vandalised from the transformer in the early hours of Sunday 3rd Sept a day after they saw him weeding off climbers tripping the feeder.
He narrated further that the police summoned the BEDC staff to report to the station in Ikokogbe on the 7th of September, where he was promptly detained based on the community’s allegations of cable vandalism.
He said, subsequently, he was transferred to the state police CID in Benin City on 11th September and held until 15th September, when BEDC’s security team, in collaboration with an external solicitor, secured his release on bail.
He said it is important to note that during his custody at the state CID, the police conducted a thorough investigation at Ugbegun to inspect the crime scene as part of their inquiries.
He said surprisingly, neither the Ugbegun community leader nor any of his constituents appeared at the state CID to substantiate the allegations that BEDC staff vandalised the DSS.
Meanwhile, there was an unrelated case where some vandals were apprehended and killed and cables recovered from them. During the course of the investigation, it was discovered that cables found with the late vandals were indeed stolen from the Distribution Substation (DSS) in Ugbegun. This evidence directly exonerated BEDC staff and linked the vandals to the cable theft, supporting the BEDC staff innocence.
He promised the company’s determination to serve customers in its franchise states better.
