The traditional ruler and residents of Ugbegun Esan Central local government area of Edo State have cried out over the alleged vandalisation of a Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) power installation, a development that has thrown their community into total darkness for over six weeks.
The community also accused staff of BEDC of vandalising armoured cables and were handed over to the police for prosecution but were later said to have been released in a suspicious manner, which further worsened the situation.
They said the action of the community leaders and vigilantes in apprehending a BEDC staff and handing him over to the police was behind the reasons why the BEDC officials had refused to restore electricity to the peaceful agrarian community.
They noted that the plan to cover up the crime perpetrated by the said officials has crippled business activities in the community just as they called on the BEDC management and other relevant authorities to come to their aid.
Speaking on the development, the traditional ruler of Ugebgun, His Royal Highness, Samuel Obade (JP), and the Itohan of Ugbegun, Chief Mathew Emiohe, lamented the suffering of the community due to non-availability of electricity occasioned by the cable theft.
Chief Obade said, “We have been mandated to defend our facilities in our domain and that we have always done. Sometimes in August, we increased our vigilance arising from what we are hearing from neighbouring clans and we caught someone in Ikiogbe sub-station but he ran away. We caught the second person vandalizing armoured cable at the sub-station and was handed over to the police.
“This last one that happened was the Engineer in charge of Igueben sub-station called Charles. The vigilante saw him red-handed. A day before, they saw him take a ladder from someone’s house, climb the high tension and loosen the cable with the pretence that he was clearing grass around the transformer.
“We have a force station in Ugbegun with over five staff and if he has no ulterior motive, he should have asked the staff to come and clear grass around the sub-station. The vigilantes saw Engineer Charles on motorbike with another person behind him holding the armoured cable. We called in the police but they were neither here nor there.”
Corroborating the position of the traditional ruler, Emiohe called for the immediate restoration of power to the community, saying residents have been thrown into total darkness since the cable theft incident, adding that they have been victimised for crying out over their plight.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of BEDC, Evelyn Gbewen, when contacted by LEADERSHIP, denied knowledge of the incident, saying the DisCo was yet to be briefed on the matter.
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