The Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), on Thursday debunked the claim by the traditional ruler of Ugbegu Community in Esan Central Local Government Area, that a member of staff of the company was caught stealing electrical cables.
BEDC said contrary to the claim, the accused member of staff was in the locality to investigate the issue of feeder tripping and to resolve the problem as assigned to him by the company.
The paramount ruler of Ugbegun community had earlier accused BEDC of victimising residents by throwing them into darkness for apprehending and handing over to the police one of its officials caught in the act of vandalising and stealing armoured cables.
Reacting to the development and accusation by the community, the Public Relation Officers of BEDC in Benin, Evelyn Gbewen, said that alleged BEDC official was only there to weed out climbers posing as threat to the feeder but sadly was misconstrued by the community.
The BEDC spokesperson stated, “On Saturday, 2nd September 2023, a dedicated technical staff member of BEDC, received a directive from the Regional Head Technical, instructing him to investigate the continuous feeder tripping, a task he was diligently carrying out on the day in question.
“His efforts led him to discover climbers tampering with the feeder, posing a significant safety hazard. The BEDC Staff promptly reported this fault to the Regional Head and began the process of removing the climbers to prevent further damage, prioritizing the safety of the community.
“Regrettably, some members of the Ugbegun community misunderstood his actions, as he was there to weed off the climbers touching the feeders.
“He left the Dss and returned to the transmission station upon the completion of the route patrol. Surprisingly, some of the community members brought in the police to arrest the said staff on the grounds that cables were vandalized from the transformer in the early hours of Sunday 3rd Sept a day after they saw him weeding off climbers tripping the feeder”.
It further added, “We remain steadfast in our commitment to resolving this situation and ensuring justice prevails. We reiterate our willingness to collaborate with the Ugbegun community to restore power to the dormant transformer.
. TheWitness
