By Adedapo Adesanya
The Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) has decried rising cases of vandalism across its franchise states.
In a press statement signed by its Head of Corporate Affairs, Mr Adekunle Tayo, the DisCo stressed that aside from being an economic crime, it is an act of sabotage against the good purpose and intents of the company.
It, therefore, canvassed that vandalism should attract tougher laws to be enforced to protect public property, especially electricity infrastructure.
BEDC appealed to members of the public to be vigilant and security conscious on the activities of some criminal elements in the society whose aim is to make life unbearable for them through their nefarious acts.
According to BEDC, the power sector has been the most hit in the most devastating manner and the effect of vandalism cannot be overemphasized as residential customers, industries, small and medium scale businesses are being starved of power as a result of the activities of vandals.
‘’The recent surge in cases of vandalism within our franchise area calls for greater attention. More worrisome is the fact that these miscreants are continuously innovating new ideas to perpetrate their acts.
“We see the recent vandalism of 14 spans of electrical conductors in Ilu-titun, Southern Ondo State, on a line currently being rehabilitated by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) as very disturbing,” it disclosed in the statement.
BEDC is responsible for the retail distribution of electricity in its four franchise states of Delta, Edo, Ekiti, and Ondo States in Nigeria. It has a geographical coverage of 55,770 square kilometres.
The company operates from 25 business districts with approximately 350 offices located across the four states with about 13 million people and about 4 million households.
The DisCo is the 4th largest in distribution capacity and 3rd largest in the number of households among the Distribution Companies (Discos) in Nigeria.
