The Regional Manager, Eket/Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, Anthony Etim, said that 11 transformers were vandalised in different locations in Eket Local Government Area of the state from July to date.
Etim said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Eket on Tuesday. He regretted that the rate of vandalism was so rampant in Eket and its environs, especially in the second quarter of this year.
“I have been having the same scenario elsewhere, but not so rampant in recent times like the one we have experienced in Eket.
“So far, 11 transformers have been dastardly vandalised in Eket,” Etim said.
He said that despite robust sensitisation and customer engagement, vandals still sabotaged electricity installations in the area. He appealed to the public, individuals and vigilance groups to assist the company to stop vandals from tampering with electrical installations.
Etim urged them to report any suspicious movement around transformers in the area to law enforcement agencies.
“I think it is high time people should see electrical installations, whether government or private, as their own personal property.
“We discussed extensively on how to curb the menace of vandalism because at times, you fix transformer today, tomorrow they come to take even more than they took before,” he stated.
Etim said that henceforth any vandals caught would be prosecuted.