The High Court of Ebonyi State sitting in the Afikpo Judicial Division holden at Afikpo, presided over by Justice Nicholas Nwode, has sentenced four persons to seven years imprisonment following a three-count charge of conspiracy, vandalism, and stealing.
The convicts, Ikechukwu Esseh, Ikedinachi Uche, Ukpai Godwin, and Uchenna Kalu, were arrested on November 28, 2023, for attacking a 7.5MVA Injection Substation belonging to the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Plc, located at Education Board Road, Afikpo, in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
This development was made known in a press statement on Wednesday, by the Group Head, Corporate Communications, Mr Emeka Ezeh.
According to Ezeh, 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 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 statement read in part, “The management of EEDC commends the judiciary for the judgement and appeals for the 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 acts.
“The company equally appreciates the efforts of the General Youth President and Afikpo Task Force Team for mobilising to apprehend these vandals, a clear indication of community support and collaboration in the protection of electricity infrastructure.”
Ezeh appealed to customers to support efforts aimed at safeguarding installations in their neighbourhood.
He lamented how the activities of vandals had negatively impacted the company’s operations and the quality of service delivered to its customers.
“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,” Ezeh noted.
He urged customers to remain vigilant and protect electricity installations in their neighbourhoods from vandalism, warning that such incidents inevitably lead to service failure and inconvenience.
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