On 18th January 2022, the Standards, Utilities and Wildlife Court (the Electricity Court) convicted Abiiti Isaac and Asiku Sunday for Tampering, Theft and Conspiracy. The accused were sentenced to 20 (Twenty) months for tampering, 20 (Twenty) months for Theft and 10 (Ten) months for conspiracy.
According to documents presented before the court by ERA, on 15th October 2021, the accused tampered with the 220kv Transmission Line in Kamdini, removing aluminium wires from the line, an act likely to cause harm to human life and property.
Abiiti Isaac and Asiku Sunday were charged with Tampering contrary to Section 81(1), Interference contrary to Section 87(1) (2) of the Electricity Act, 1999, Theft contrary to Section 254(1) and 261 of the Penal Code Act and Conspiracy contrary to Section 391 of the Penal code Act.
Her Worship Marion Mangeni while sentencing the accused, noted with concern that acts of vandalism cause a substantial financial loss to the Electricity Sector, which later impacts Electricity Consumers through high Electricity Tariffs.
She further noted that sentencing the two should warn the public, particularly people with a habit of vandalizing electrical installations, to stay away from such acts.
Ends