A 34-year-old man, John Pere, has sustained severe injuries when electricity supply was restored to a 33KV cable belonging to the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) he was vandalising, in Delta State.
The incident reportedly occurred in the wee hours of Thursday at the road leading to 3 Battalion Nigerian Army, Effurun Barracks, off the popular Refinery Road, Warri, Delta State.
LEADERSHIP gathered that luck ran out for Pere when power was suddenly restored to the armoured cable he was trying to cut.
Pere who was seen writhing in severe pains with burns all over him at the scene of the incident, narrated that he was an expert at climbing electric poles without a ladder.
Narrating further, he confirmed to be responsible for similar vandalism of electricity cables in Obodo which he usually sell to itinerant cart pushers.
The vandal who disclosed that he operates alone said he had attempted illegal oil bunkering but failed to make a living from the business before switching to vandalising electricity cables.
BEDC’s Public Affairs Relations Manager, Mrs Esther Okolie in reaction to the incident said if the vandal had succeeded in his mission, the entire Refinery Road substation would have been out of service.
She partly attributed electricity cable vandalization to inability of distribution companies to ensure steady power supply in the country, explaining that in such instances, BEDC would have to replace the stolen cable before restoring power to the affected areas.
As at the time of this report, the police were yet to arrive at the scene of the incident to commence investigations or take the badly burnt vandal to the hospital.
Police Public Relations Officer, Delta State Command, Bright Edafe, said the command will investigate the incident to confirm if the suspect operates alone or with other vandals.
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