Oscarline Onwuemenyi
18 June 2016, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KEDC) has lamented the menace of vandalism in its franchise states, which includes Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi states, saying that the activities of vandals significantly affects its ability to provide adequate power to its customers.
A statement from the company, signed by the Head, Corporate Communication, Abdulazeez Abdullahi, noted that the increased vandalisation of its installations and equipment in the past few weeks has left several communities and neighbourhoods in darkness in its franchise states.
“Kaduna Electric has observed with deep concern, the resurgence of the vandalism of power supply installations in our franchise area. These criminals specialise in destroying and removing armoured cables from our distribution sub-stations,” the statement noted.
Available statistics show that over 20 cases of vandalisation and theft of incomer cables, cross arms, HT poles, transformer oil, pot insulators, aluminium conductors and other equipment were recorded by the company this year.Lamenting the situation, the company urged the general public to be more vigilant and apprehend anybody caught tampering with, or removing any item from a power transformer.
“Similarly, any suspicious movement around power supply transformers, especially at odd hours, should be reported to the nearest police station or any of our offices. Let’s join hands and stop this menace. Let’s ensure that criminals don’t deprive us of our right to enjoy reliable power supply. While concerted efforts are made to replace the vandalised equipment, the menace is a major drawback on our operations,” the company added.