A magistrate court has remanded one person for assaulting an Eko Electricity
Distribution Company Staff, and four others for vandalising properties belonging to the
Company.
This was made known in a statement signed by the EKEDC Head of Corporate
Communications & Strategy, Mr. Babatunde Lasaki.
According to the press statement, Dada Fabian was arrested on the 16th of March 2023
for instigating mobs to beat up two staff while going about their lawful duties and
causing breach of peace at Uzor Street, Ajeromi, Apapa, Lagos. She was charged with
breach of peace and conspiracy to cause grievous harm, with others still at large. She
was arraigned on 22nd March 2023 at Magistrate Court 19 Ajegunle and pleaded not
guilty to the 2-count charge. The defendant was granted bail in the sum of N50,000.00
and a surety in like sum. The Defendant is remanded at Kirikiri pending her bail
perfection.
In the same vein, Kehinde Shogbesan was caught on the 14th of March 2023 for
damaging a transformer and stealing cable wires at Flag House, Marina, both properties
of the Eko Electricity Distribution Company. He was convicted on 30th March 2023,
having been found guilty of the two-count charge. He was sentenced to one & half years
imprisonment for count 1, and two-years imprisonment for count 2, to run concurrently.
Ahmed Yaya, Aba Jide and others now at large were apprehended on the 12th of March
2023 along Adeola Odeku Street, Victoria Island where they stole cables belonging to
Eko Electricity Distribution Company valued at N7,000,000 (Seven million naira only).
They were arraigned on the 16th of March 2023. They pleaded not guilty to the charges
and the matter was adjourned to 11th April 2023.
Also, Ibrahim Abdullahi was caught stealing and vandalizing earth wire, statical wire and
a statical meter valued at N250,000 (Two hundred and fifty thousand naira only) on the
13th of March 2023. He was arraigned on the 14th of March 2023 where he pleaded not
guilty and was granted bail in the sum of N100,000 (One hundred thousand naira only)
with two sureties.
Mamudu Ali, Samuel Akowe and Stanley Umebuni were arrested on 5th March 2023
while attempting to vandalize and steal armored cables servicing the transformer at
Temple Road, Ikoyi Lagos. They were caught by the officers on patrol. The defendants
were arraigned on Tuesday 7th March 2023 at the Magistrate Court 10 Lagos. The
charge was read to them, and they pleaded not guilty to the four-count charge. The
defendants were granted bail in the sum of N500.000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand
Naira), and 3 sureties with tax verification. The defendants are to be remanded at the
Ikoyi Prison pending their bail perfection.
In the statement, Lasaki reiterated that EKEDC would not hesitate to apply the full
weight of the law in dealing with members of the public that take law into their hands
through assaults on EKEDC staff and officials.
He said where these attacks persist, EKEDC, in line with her obligation to provide
service under a conducive atmosphere to its customers, would as a matter of necessity,
continue to escalate such matters to law enforcement agencies.
Furthermore, he noted that vandalism was one of the leading causes of poor power
supply within EKEDC’s operation network and assured customers that the electricity
distribution company would continue to work with relevant authorities to ensure that
perpetrators are brought to justice and face the full wrath of the law.
He called on members of the public to report suspicious activity around its infrastructure
to the nearest EKEDC office or via any of the company’s official complaint channels:
Website: https://ekedp.com, Email: whistleblower@ekedp.com, Phone numbers:
07080671170, 07001235666, Facebook: Eko Electricity Distribution Company, Twitter:
@ekedp, and Instagram: @ekedpng.
Mr. Lasaki reiterated EKEDC’s commitment to providing quality power supply to its
customers and encouraged them to assist the company in its fight against vandalism.
