Thieves disrupt power supply in Plateau, Benue, others

 Yusufu Aminu Idegu, Jos

ELECTRICITY supply in Plateau, Benue, Bauchi and Gombe states has continued to suffer major setbacks due to cable and transformer vandalsim in the zone.

Head, Corporate Communication of Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC) Aliyu Saratu said the distribution company has been losing revenue as a result of this.

Saratu who gave an overview of activities of the company in 2019 said, “Aside from losing revenue, electricity consumers in the franchise areas comprising Plateau, Benue, Bauchi and Gombe often have their supply chain cut off each time a major supply cable is vandalised.

She said, “Within the period under review, Jos DiSco recorded over 51 cases of vandalism in which the company recorded the  loss of over 150 million naira as a result.

“Apart from the activities of vandals, some consumers are fond of stealing our energy for their use without paying bills by bypassing our meters or tampering with installed meters. The company has recorded energy loss valued at over N3 million for each of these vandalised Distribution Transformers”

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Speaking further, she said, “At the moment we have over 12 ongoing cases against the suspected vandals in various courts across the states. We have also secured convictions  for some of those suspects, one of them was recently convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment after he was found guilty of the crime by the court.

“Security agencies also did well in going beyond the suspects by fishing out the buyers of these stolen electricity items. We also have a couple of cases with these receivers in various courts.

She said, “The management of JEDC is not just sitting down and lamenting the menace of these vandals and energy theft, but we are adopting several strategies to curb this negative trend. For instance, management has gone into close collaboration with security agencies, we have tightened our bond with security agencies and communities to combat the vandalism menace that has become prevalent in these states.”