By Elizabeth ADENUGA
The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) said it arrested no fewer than 156 electricity installation vandals within its network from January 2018 to date.
Mr Tony Obi, Managing Director of the company, disclosed this during a Forum organised for the company’s customers in Awka Business Area on Thursday.
Obi, who was represented by Mr Frank Ejiofor, Head of Security, said the company had secured no fewer than 50 convictions from those arrested within its network.
He said that vandalism and energy theft were major challenges to efficient service delivery in the franchise area, restating that EEDC had zero tolerance to such vices.
The managing director also decried the spate of indiscriminate construction along High Tension Power lines, which according to him, was a great danger to the people and the company.
He said the company would soon embark on disconnection of all customers who encroached in Power line right of way, adding that they would be served with disconnection notice with fines as directed by the Federal Government.
Obi said the company had spent about N200 million for the upgrade of an existing 7.5 MVA injection substation to 15 MVA and installation of a new 7.5MVA injection substation within the Awka district to boost supply.
“We are determined to improve power supply in a five states where we have franchise in Awka.
“We are upgrading an injection substation at Agu-Awka and building a new one at ABS and the company has spent about N200 million on those projects.
“We are worried by activity of installation vandals between last year and now about 156 of them have been arrested across the network, about 50 of them have been convicted and many of them are in courts.
“We are calling on our customers, communities and all security agencies to partner with us in safeguarding these facilities by reporting and if possible apprehending them so that together we all can enjoy better service,” he said.
Also speaking, Mr Emeka Ezeh, Head Communication, EEDC, said no fewer than 250, 000 customers had been issued prepaid metres from the 700, 000 unmetered customers it inherited on taking over in 2013.
Ezeh appealed to the customers in the district to exercise patient, saying that metering was a process.
He assured consumers that in no distant time they would all get prepaid metres.
He said it was in the business interest of the company to metre its customers while warning that metre by-pass and energy theft remained criminal offences.
According to the spokesperson, the company is waiting for the takeoff of Metre Asset Provider (MAP) programme that will expedite the metering process.
“MAP programme was supposed to commence in January but up till now we are still waiting for the regulator to give approval for the effective takeoff, this will help to fill a large part of the metering gap,” he said.
One of the customers, Mr Ozor Okonkwor decried poor power supply in Amansea, Awka South Council and lauded EEDC for its effort to improve supply with the new investments on facilities.
Okonkwor said the estimated billing system was fraud and urged the company to supply metres to customers to enable them pay for only power they consumed.
TBI Africa said that the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the participants were drawn from individual and corporate customers as well as the civil society.
