LAGOS – Eko Electricity Distribution Compa­ny (EKEDC) has decried the recurrent vandalism of infrastructure across the power sector, leading to massive, unplanned and prolonged outages within the sector.

The Company, noted vandalism and equipment theft are the leading causes of blackouts in the country.

EKEDC has made significant prog­ress in its quest to protect its infra­structure through concerted protec­tive efforts with communities and law enforcement agencies.

A community within the Satellite Town area of Lagos assisted in appre­hending two suspects; Raymond An­thony Okoye and Olamilekan Adeleke, who were apprehended vandalizing a 2500 transformer.

They were subsequently detained at the Agboju Police Station before their arraignment.

Okoye and Adeleke were charged with three counts of conspiracy, steal­ing and vandalism before the Kirikiri Magistrate Court and pleaded guilty to the charges.

The Magistrate, Mrs A.S. Okubule sentenced Okoye to 18 months impris­onment with hard labour on the three charges while Adeleke bagged one-year imprisonment with hard labour also on the three charges, running concur­rently.

Babatunde Lasaki, General Man­ager, Corporate Communications of EKEDC in a release to the Media, commended the community for their efforts leading to the apprehension of the vandals.

He also extolled the men of the Nige­rian Police Force for swinging promptly into action.

Lasaki also expressed the Compa­ny’s frustrations on the spate of vandal­ism in its franchise area and the power sector at large.

He said: “It is extremely dishearten­ing that we still have to deal with the is­sue of vandalism at this point when we are pouring all our efforts into improv­ing electricity supply to our customers.

“Vandalism is halting the wheels of progress in the power sector and makes us use resources meant for new projects to replace already existing ones that have been vandalized or outrightly stolen.

“We will not relent in our efforts and will ensure that vandals face the full wrath of the law, and no vandal will be spared. Our equipment is there for all our customers to enjoy uninterrupted and stable power supply.”

“We also call on our communities to emulate the Satellite Town Community leaders and people to partner with us and report suspected vandalism cases to us or the nearest law enforcement agency so that we can salvage the sit­uation.

“Customers and general public can also report suspected cases of vandal­ism and any unwholesome activities to us through whistleblower@ekedp. com” he noted.