By Silver Nwokoro and Waliat Musa
A Lagos Magistrate’s Court has sentenced two men for vandalising and stealing electric cables. The accused are: Omena Sunday, 24 years and Bashir Sheu, 28 years, were arraigned before the Magistrate’s Court 1 Mushin, sitting at Ogba Magistrate Court and Ifo Magistrate’s Court 2, Ifo Local Council in Ogun State for vandalism and stealing transformer cables at Five Star Junction Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, Lagos and Otun Olori Akute area of Ogun State.
Omena, having pleaded guilty on Count one, two and three of the four Charges, was sentenced to six months imprisonment for Count one, one year imprisonment for Count two and three of the charge accordingly, which will run concurrently for one year with hard labour without option of fine.
The Court said the sentence will serve as deterrence to others who may want to indulge in such criminal acts. While Omena is serving his jail terms on count one to three, if he is found guilty on count four, his jail term will be added to his running jail terms since the count four was adjourned to January 30, 2023 for continuation of trial.
In the same vein and according to the charge sheet, Sheu and others at large were arrested and arraigned before Ifo Magistrate Court two, Ifo Local Council in Ogun State on September 27, 2022. The defendant was charged on a two-count of conspiracy and stealing Ikeja Electric’s transformer cables thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under section 390 (90) of the criminal code volume 1 Law of Ogun State, 2006.
The charge was interpreted to the defendant in Hausa language. He pleaded not guilty to the charge. The matter came up again for judgment on January 18, 2023. Sheu was found guilty of the two-count charge and sentenced to one-year imprisonment on the two counts, which ran concurrently from September 26, 2022 being the date he was remanded.
MEANWHILE, the Acting Head of Corporate Communications Ikeja Electric, Mr Kingsley Okotie, has said the increase in the rate of vandalisation of electricity installations has become worrisome to the Distribution Company.
In a statement, he said vandalism affects not just the distribution company but also customers, both residential and commercial, as everyone is thrown into darkness over long periods until the assets are replaced.
He therefore called on all stakeholders to collaborate and curb the ugly trend. He encouraged Community Development Associations (CDA) to make use of their vigilantes in addition to other security agencies and safeguard electrical equipment in their neighbourhood.
The Ikeja Electric spokesman also warned criminally minded individuals within the society to desist from nefarious acts such as energy theft, illegal connections, safety breaches, bribery/extortion, tampering, meter-bypass, harassment and assault of staff while discharging their legitimate duties.
Source: The Guardian
