BEDC cries out as hoodlums vandalise 43 transformers in Ado Ekiti

The Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) has raised an alarm that no fewer than 43 transformers have been vandalised by hoodlums in its substations across Ekiti State in the last six months.

The management of BEDC stated that due to the activities of the vandals, several communities in the state have been plunged into darkness, urging the communities to safeguard the facilities through their various landlord associations.

Speaking with newsmen in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, on Friday, the Senior Commercial Officer of BEDC in Ekiti, Brown Ilori, explained that the development was a setback to its services to the affected residents.

He called on the people and communities to enhance their security surveillance to protect the facilities in their domains for effective service delivery.

Ilori denied insinuations that some staff members of the company were behind these infractions in the state, noting that “it does not take any expertise to destroy these transformers.”

He revealed that a suspected vandal in the Tinuola area of the state capital had been arrested and handed over to the state police command for proper investigation and eventual prosecution.

He said, “The 43 substations whose transformers have been vandalised are scattered all over Ekiti. The 43 transformers were vandalised in the last six months when such cases became very rampant. Our plea is for the communities where these transformers are sited to take ownership of the transformers.

“We are calling on the people to safeguard those facilities because they are within their domain. We want to involve the people to let them know that security is the collective responsibility of all.

“Security is the business of everybody. It is true that we own the transformers, but they provide light for the people. If the people are passive about the security of the transformers, they are the ones who bear the brunt and will be put in perpetual darkness if they allow hoodlums to vandalise the transformers.

“We have held meetings with our staff and warned them that once it is outside official hours, do not go to carry out any repairs on any transformers, no matter the pressure, until the following day. These are the steps we are taking on our end here.

“But luckily for us, on Tuesday this week, we caught one person in the Tinuola area of Ado Ekiti who is not a member of our staff. The matter has been reported to the police. The Regional Head has just handed the suspect over to the police.”

On her part, the BEDC Regional Head, Ekiti, Mrs. Moyo Akin-Afuye, who reiterated the company’s commitment to delivering quality services to its customers in the state, called on the people to collaborate with the BEDC in protecting transformers and other equipment in the state.

Akin-Afuye disclosed that the company has procured and installed solar lamps and constructed transparent perimeter fencing around the transformers as part of measures to ensure the security of the electricity equipment.