By Tony Adibe
There were fears among residents in the early hours of Saturday, at Ede Oballa, Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, as the lifeless body of a suspected vandal was found within the space of a distribution transformer belonging to the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC).
There was speculation that the victim was electrocuted while attempting to vandalize the distribution transformer, which already had some of its cables severed, according to the EEDC Spokesman, Mr. Emeka Ezeh. The deceased, identified as Tochukwu Onah (Alias Toshiba), an indigene of Ede-Oballa (the same community where the transformer is located), until this tragic incident operated a barbing salon.
Disclosing the development to newsmen in Enugu on Sunday, the Head of Corporate Communications, EEDC, Mr. Emeka Ezeh, described the incident as “very unfortunate, one which has cut the young man’s life short at its prime.” Ezeh recalled the numerous cases of vandalism recorded by the company last year, which negatively impacted not just the quality of service to its customers, but also its revenue.
He appealed to the public, especially those who are quick at pointing accusing fingers at employees of the company to also look inwards, as some of the perpetrators of these attacks on EEDC facilities may be residing within the neighbourhood or community.
Ezeh recounted an experience sometime in November last year, after a transformer was vandalized in the same Ede Oballa community, where their representatives directly accused employees of EEDC of being responsible for the attack, alleging that “they are the ones who understand electricity.”
Victim
“As fate would have it, the deceased happened to be one of their own, an indigene of the community whom we were told operated a barbing salon and had never been associated with anything relating to electricity, talk less of being an employee of EEDC.”
According to Ezeh, vandalism has been a big challenge to the company, and there is no way it can deal with it all alone without the support of its stakeholders. The spokesman called on customers to join hands with the company to “fish out these few individuals who live amongst us, that are making life miserable for the larger public, instead of engaging in unfounded allegations, where employees of the company are accused of being the perpetrators of this ugly act.”
He reiterated the company’s position on any of its employees that is found to be involved in such act, stressing that such a person will not only be shown the way out, but will be prosecuted, as the company has zero tolerance for such criminal act.
Ezeh affirmed that in all the arrests that have been made, none of the suspects has been identified as a staff of the company, neither has any of the suspects apprehended claimed that they were working or colluding with any employee of the company. EEDC, however, commiserated with the family of the deceased, and hope that “this incident serves as deterrent to those engaging in this act of sabotage.”
