The Management of Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company says between January and June, 2022,158 distribution sub-stations were vandalized across the four franchise states of the company.

The Chief Engineering and Technical Services Officer of the Company, Bello Musa, in a statement lamented the rising cases of vandalism of power supply infrastructure, saying that it is taking a serious toll on the company’s operations.

He said KEDC lost N238,701,800:65 (two hundred and thirty-eight million, seven hundred and one thousand, eight hundred naira, sixty-five Kobo) worth of equipment and N147,953,449:01(one hundred and forty-seven million, nine hundred and fifty-three thousand, four hundred and forty-nine naira, one Kobo) in expected revenue during the period under review.

Prolonged outages and service disruption suffered by the customers were as a result of vandalism and theft of power supply assets by selfish and criminal elements in the society.

He explained, “The destruction of critical national assets like power supply infrastructure by a few unpatriotic elements is a despicable act of sabotage, a mindless criminality and the pinnacle of irresponsibility which we must collectively fight as a society”.

Musa however stressed that of the 158 vandalised distribution sub-stations, 54 had been repaired and supply restored to the affected customers while efforts are being made to bring the remaining to back on track.

He urged the security agencies and other prosecuting authorities to ensure the full wrath of the law is brought against the perpetrators of the crime no matter who they are in society.

Musa called for more vigilance by communities and neighbouring vigilante groups towards arresting the ugly situation.