Thirty-year-old Ahmed Umar has been sentenced to six months in prison for vandalizing a transformer belonging to Ikeja Electric Plc.
Umar was sentenced by Mrs. O. Sule-Amzat of a Lagos Magistrates’ Court, Ogudu, after pleading guilty to a count of theft brought against him by the police. He was alleged to have stolen a copper wire valued N100,000 from a 500KVA transformer located at Olutunfese sub-station, by Demurin Street in Ketu, Alapere.
Prosecuting Inspector Chiechie Lucky said the defendant was arrested on April 7, adding that the offence was punishable under Section 285 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos, 2011.
Having pleaded guilty to the charge, Magistrate Sule-Amzat sentenced the convict to six months in prison without an option of fine.
In a similar development, IE has sued a customer, Mrs Claret Iheanacho, a resident of Ajegunle, for bypassing her electricity meter and falsely accusing an IE employee of theft.
The IE Staff, Christian Ugwu had visited the residence of Mrs Iheanacho on October 13, 2016 to distribute bills when he discovered the bypass. He immediately took pictures and in line with company policy, escalated the matter. Mrs Iheanacho, who discovered that her crime was exposed then proceeded to falsely accuse Christian of stealing electrical cables and other equipment in the compound valued at over =N=400,000.
In the suit filed at Lagos High Court, Ikeja, IE is praying the court to award the sum of =N=5m in general damages against Iheanacho for defaming Ugwu and the Company. Further, IE is asking for an additional =N=1m in aggravated and exemplary damages and the sum of =N=500,000 being the amount of loss of revenue which IE incurred through Iheanacho’s illegal action.
Ikeja Electric has stepped up monitoring of her networks to ensure that energy theft is curbed. The Disco has also stepped up action against vandals and all cases of assault on her staff.
