Borno to prosecute landlord for illegal tapping of electricity, others  

The Borno State Government has pledged to prosecute a resident, Dabarju Anarju,  for illegal tapping of electricity in the Government Reservation Area (GRA) of Maiduguri metropolis.
   
Anarju is currently in police custody for further investigations.
    
Executive Secretary, Borno State Geographic Information Service (BOGIS), Adam Bababe, who disclosed this, yesterday,  said the  title holder (name withheld) of the property in Government Reserved Area (GRA), has been running a commercial ice block factory for over two years.
    
According to him, the suspect illegally connected the ice block factory onto the state’s streetlight standby generators in the metropolis.

He said, the illegal connections were identified, monitored and reported by GRA residents of the community.
    
He explained that when the illegal connections were monitored and intercepted, they were also found to be true.
    
The agency boss noted that the ice block-making factory was last January marked for illegal encroachment by the state government.
   
He said: “Unknown to us, beneath the reservation land, the landlord has encroached and tapped electricity from three points to the factory. The ice block factory is sited at the GRA, a residential area.”
      
Bababe lamented that the blown up generators supplying electricity to GRA are to be replaced by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation.
On whether the property will be demolished, he said: “We’ll allow the law to take its course.

“Whatever it is, the offence has been committed and the landlord has been caught red-handed by residents and the police.”