Three caught while stealing electric cables in Abuja

Three scavengers, whose names are yet to be identified, have been arrested for allegedly vandalizing a transformer at Anguwar Sabon-Tasha in Abaji metropolis of Abuja.

A resident of the area, Shuaibu Musa, said the incident happened on Friday, around 6:12pm, when the suspects used knives and pliers to cut the cables.

He said the suspects, after successfully vandalizing the cables, then moved them into an uncompleted building in the area.

‘It was one of the residents who discovered that the cables were vandalized and immediately raised an alarm and the police were alerted.

“The police traced the cables and discovered them at a scavengers’ shop from where three of the suspects were apprehended,” he said.

He said the three suspects are currently being detained at the Abaji police command in the area.

A police source, who preferred anonymity, confirmed the arrest of the scavengers, saying the Abaji branch manager of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), had been alerted.

When contacted, the Abaji branch manager of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), Joshua Dangana Erena, confirmed the arrest of the suspected cable vandals.

The AEDC manager, who decried incessant cases of vandalizing of transformer cables in the area, appealed to residents to always collaborate with security agents and vigilantes to curtail the crime

Our reporter also reliably gathered that residents of Anguwar Kekeshi and Naharati in the area have been thrown into darkness over two months due to the rate of vandalization of transformer cables in the area.