Court Sentences 4 Persons to 7Years imprisonment for Vandalizing EEDC Property

By Praise Chinecherem

Four suspects have been sentenced to seven years imprisonment for vandalizing property belonging to the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC) in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

The convicts were sentenced by Hon. Justice Nicholas Nwode at the High Court of Ebonyi State of Nigeria in the Afikpo Judicial Division.

The convicts, Ikechukwu Esseh, Ikedinachi Uche, Ukpai Godwin, and Uchenna Kalu were jailed following three-count charge of conspiracy, vandalism and stealing.

Group Head, Corporate Communications, EEDC, Mr. Emeka Ezeh in a statement said the convicts were arrested on November 28, 2023, for attacking a 7.5MVA Injection Substation belonging to the power firm located at Education Board Road, Afikpo.

“The presiding Judge, after carefully reviewing all evidence presented before him and considering the high incidence of vandalism and stealing of electrical installations in Afikpo, sentenced the accused.

“They were sentenced to five years imprisonment on count one, seven years imprisonment on count two, and five years imprisonment on count three, to run concurrently without option of fine.

“The management of EEDC commended the judiciary for the judgement and appealed for speedy trial of other pending matters.

“We commend the judiciary for the judgement, and hope that this will serve as a deterrent to others out there, who may engage in such criminal act.

“The company equally appreciated the efforts of the General Youth President and Afikpo Task Force Team for mobilizing to apprehend these vandals, a clear indication of community support and collaboration in the protection of electricity infrastructure,” he stated.

While decrying activities of vandals and their negative impact on the company’s operations and the quality of service delivered to its customers, Ezeh appealed to customers to support efforts aimed at safeguarding installations in their neighborhood.

“As a result, we continue to commit scarce resources to restore vandalised equipment – funds that would ordinarily be channeled to other areas of our operations that will benefit our customers.

“We urge customers to remain vigilant and protect electricity installations in their neighborhoods from vandalism as such incidents inevitably lead to service failure and inconvenience,” he decried.