Three cable thieves nabbed

The police at Akyem Asene near Oda in the Eastern Region have arrested three young men for allegedly stealing cables belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

The suspects, who have been placed in custody pending further investigations into the matter, are Kwaku Darko, alias Odoba, a 23-year-old electrician; Kwadwo Amoah, 18, a junior high school leaver and Kwasi Gyekye, a driver's mate.

According to Detective Corporal Sam Acquah of the Asene Police Sta¬tion, on the night of December 9, 2007, people residing in five different houses at Asene realised that their lights went off all of a sudden. They thought it was a general power outage in the town.

He said when they woke up the fol¬lowing morning, they realised that the cables from the main power lines in the town to their houses as well as those connecting the Asene Church of Pentecost had been cut off.

He said they realised that some of the stolen cables had been packed into sacks and hidden near a hairdressing salon belonging to one Madam Selina Fokuo.

D/Cpl Acquah stated that Selina and one Mr Francis Owusu lodged a complaint at the Asene Police Station.

He said that Amoah and Gyekye, who had earlier told the police at the crime scene that they chased the thieves the previous night but could not arrest them, later informed Selina that the cables the policemen took away were not those stolen from her hair-dressing salon.

According to the investigator, Amoah and Gyekye led Selina and Mr. Owusu to Odoba's house where they brought two fertilizer sacks full of cables concealed in a garage and told Selina that those were her stolen cables.

He said further that Selina and Mr Owusu immediately reported the matter to the police leading to their arrest and detention.

D/Cpl Acquah stated that the suspects would be prosecuted as soon as police investigations were completed.

When the Oda Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Ben Atadana was contacted, he confirmed the arrest of the suspects.

He stressed that they would be dealt with drastically if found culpable, to serve as a deterrent to other bad lots in society.

Commenting on the issue, the Birim South District Manager of the ECG, Mr Henry Richardson, expressed grave concern over the rampant theft of service cables and meters in the area, thereby disrupting power supply to some communities.

He said for that matter, the ECG had decided to replace the copper cables with aluminium ones, which are less attractive to the thieves.