Three suspects have been arrested by residents of Adaklu Tsrefe and released to the Volta Regional Police Command for attempting to steal a transformer in the early hours of Thursday.
The Suspects, Sitsofe Agbodza 26 years, Deladem Kodzo Tsrakasu 29 years and Wahab 20 years, who are all plumbers and residents of Tema Community 25, were apprehended after they brought down the transformer.
The suspects, who are natives of Adaklu, were visiting their hometown to celebrate the Asogli Yam festival.
Ms. Christina Jatoe-Kaleo, General Manager of ECG in the Volta Region, briefing the Ghana News Agency, said a hunter from Adaklu Tsrefe, who was returning from an expedition, saw the three suspects dismantling the ECG transformer.
She said the hunter questioned the suspects, who threw an iron rod at him.
The hunter then raised an alarm and began shooting in the air to scare them.
“The suspects ran away and were later apprehended by the residents of the community around 0300 hours and handed them over to the Volta Regional Police Command for further investigation,” she added.
Ms. Jatoe-Kaleo commended the community for their vigilance and urged the public to look out for such people since such negative activities were on the rise.
“As a Company, we are committed to providing quality, reliable and safe electricity services for our customers but the activities of these individuals prevent us from delivering our core mandate.
Once the transformer is stolen power supply will be curtailed to customers and this will affect businesses, schools and even hospitals so we humbly appeal to the public to assist us curb this menace,” she said.
“The transformer is the most expensive component in our network and the value for the damaged transformer at Adaklu Tsrefe by these suspects is GHC104,000 minus labour and other expenses, which we have to replace at our own cost and this affects our operations as well as our financial health. This new transformer could have been sent to communities without power supply or even extend power to other areas,” she revealed.
Ms. Jatoe- Kaleo urged the public to be vigilant and help protect ECG installations in their communities, homes and towns.
“Lately people are even stealing the earth wires at our substations and service cables of our customers, which normally result in prolonged outages so let’s all come together to fight this menace. If you see anyone suspicious working at any ECG substation or facility, kindly report to the nearest police station or ECG via 0302611611”, she said.
Ms. Jatoe-Kaleo assured the public of the Company’s commitment to deliver on its mandate.
Police sources confirmed the arrest.