The Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) has reported vandals of electrical installations in its franchise states to Edo, Delta, Ondo and Ekiti to the federal government, claiming their activities responsible for poor energy supply to genuine customers.
Adekunle Tayo, the company’s Head of Corporate Affairs, who raised the alarm in a statement, described the act of vandalism as economic crime and sabotage against the good intents of the company to serve its customers better.
Tayo, while asking the relevant security agencies to help out, also appealed to members of the public the need to be vigilant and security conscious on the activities of this unruly elements in the society whose aim is to make life unbearable for law abiding citizens through their nefarious acts.
According to him, the power sector has been the most hit in the most devastating manner and the effect of vandalism cannot be over emphasized as customers are being starved of power as a result of the activities of vandals.
He said, “The recent surge in cases of vandalism within our franchise area calls for greater attention. More worrisome is the fact that these miscreants are continuously innovating new ideas beyond human comprehension to perpetrate their criminal acts.”
The company’s image-maker, the 14 spans of electric conductors, 20 spans of electric conductors at Ilu-titan In Souther Ondo south, and Ode-Aye and Okitipupa respectively as very disturbing.
“As a company, we see these as acts of economic sabotage against the good intents of BEDC. We regret a situation whereby the money that could have been judiciously invested on network upgrade such as energization of new transformers or construction of new lines to relief existing ones would now be channelled towards replacing the vandalized items.
“It is indeed unfortunate that revenue that could be used for critical development projects are being used to restore damaged and stolen equipment.
“Vandalism of electricity distribution network and other forms of electrical thefts are serious threats to power sector sustainability and economic growth and have been major acts negatively affecting service delivery to customers”, Tayo declared, while calling for tougher laws that would be enforced to protect public property, especially electricity infrastructure.