Fakoyejo OlalekanThe Managing Director of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), Tinuade Sanda, said the firm lost N4 billion following damages to their property in the last six months. This has affected their operation.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Sanda explained that the company recorded 18 incidents of vandalism, resulting to the distributing company’s inability to provide service for areas it covers.
Breaking down the cost burden of vandalism on EKEDC, the managing director said destruction of its assets, which occurred in Mushin, Yaba, Surulere, Lagos Island, Ijora, and Apapa, led to a loss of N3 billion.
It was gathered that the remaining N1 billion was as a result of the blackout that occurred following the vandalism. She said the company’s infrastructure is not safe, and this weighs heavily on the ability of EKEDC to perform its electricity distribution duty.
Sanda disclosed that innocent and unsuspecting members of the public have lost their lives to the attacks recorded by her company, while some were injured. According to her, operation of many businesses have also been disrupted by vandalism.
“Today, I want to bring to the attention of the public, the spate of vandalism within our network in the last few weeks, especially in areas such as Mushin, Yaba, Surulere, Ijora, Apapa and Lagos Island,” Sanda disclosed.
She further stated that, “These cases of vandalism have contributed in no small measure to the prolonged outages in our network, leading to disruptions of many businesses, maiming/injury, and loss of lives, particularly of innocent and unsuspecting members of the public.
“We have witnessed 18 incidents, and from our estimate, we have lost about N3 billion to the underground armoured cables that are being stolen and resold in the black market.
“In terms of revenue losses due to prolonged outages, we also estimate an additional loss of N1 billion, which means we have lost about N4 billion to these activities of vandals.”
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