Vandals cart away PHCN cables worth millions of naira in Awka

By The Citizen

Vandals have carted off Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) cables worth about N2 million in Awka, according to an official.

Mr Emmanuel Dim, the Business Manager of the company, said in Awka on Thursday that acts of vandalism of PHCN installations had increased recently in the state.

Dim urged the perpetrators to desist from such unpatriotic acts, warning that severe measures await the perpetrators, including prosecution and jail for economic sabotage.

He said the company's services had been affected at the Retreat Centre, Okpuno because of the recent theft by the hoodlums.

“These people did not even fear God, knowing that the area where they decided to steal the cables houses the Catholic Bishop of Awka and others,'' Dim said.

He appealed to the members of the public to protect PHCN installations in their localities.

The manager said the company had recorded huge losses of its infrastructure to vandals in the past few months in different parts of the state.

He commended the customers who alerted the security agencies in Okpouno about the theft.

While assuring the people of improved service delivery, the manager also urged them to guard public property in their localities.

The Public Relations Officer of the state police command, Mr Emeka Chukwuemeka, also said that two persons had been arrested in a bush trying to remove PHCN inscription from the cables.