2 Persons Handed 6 Years After Stealing Cables

A Takoradi Circuit Court presided over by Mrs. Rita Doku last week has jailed two persons, three years each into prison, for stealing cables belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

The convicts – Samuel Codjoe, aged 35 and Samuel Kodjoe, 33- were jailed on the account, conspiracy to cause damage, to steal and stealing.

According to the prosecutor, Chief Inspector Eudoxie Addo briefing the court said the Samuels were arrested and detained on Friday, July 13, 2018 by the Kwsimintsim Divisional Police Command after they were found with the cable believed to belong to the ECG in a taxi they were traveling in.

He told the court when the taxi cab with the registration number GT 4048-17, was stopped at the Apremdo barrier at about 2:00am that Friday dawn, the police found the following items fertilizer bag containing quantities of aluminum cables, earth wire, pairs of scissors, pliers, a black school bag and a knife with them.

The prosecutor said the items, after investigations, were found to be part of items that were stolen from the ECG at Ankyernyin in the Ahanta West District of the Western Region.

The Acting General Manager of the ECG in the Western Region, Ibrahim Yakubu reacting to the incident instead appeal to all citizens to be vigilant as such activities of robbers are having devastating toll on the work of the ECG in the region.

He revealed that there had been four separate robbery incidents in the region, all targeted at ECG property between June 29 and July 13 of this year.

Mr. Yakubu feared that if those incidents go on unchecked, it might jeopardize the smooth transmission of power to parts of the Region and intermittent outages in the affected areas as it takes time and cost to replace such vandalized or stolen items.

Ing. Ebenezer Addy, the Acting Western Regional Engineer of ECG also on his part hoped that the sentences will serve as a deterrent to others, who are engaged in such acts.

He further lauded the Kwesimintsim Police command for the yeoman's job in nabbing the robbers.

Ing. Addy disclosed that in most cases they target poles, mounted transformers and neutral cables which affect electrical appliances of households in the event of power surges.

He therefore called on all to ensure such saboteurs are exposed for the law to deal with them accordingly.