Man electrocuted while attempting to steal transformer cables

File photo: Electrocuted suspect

A yet-to-be-identified man has been electrocuted while attempting to steal transformer cables belonging to the Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC) in Gombe, the Gombe State capital.

The Gombe State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Buhari Abdullahi, confirmed the incident on Friday, November 1, 2024.

Abdullahi disclosed that the electrocution occurred at about 7:00 a.m. on Friday.

Abdullahi said: “At about 7:00 a.m. on Friday, the police on duty saw someone trying to cut high tension cable that linked the pole to the transformer at the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) Zonal Store in Gombe.

“He cut one of the armoured cables; in the process of cutting the second, he was electrocuted.”

He stated that the policemen took the unidentified man to the Specialist Hospital in Gombe where he was certified dead by a doctor.

Abdullahi said the body had been deposited at the hospital’s mortuary.

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“The deceased is yet to be identified because there was no item on him,” the police spokesperson said.

Abdullahi added that the deceased might have tried to take advantage of the recent power outage in the state to steal the transformer cables, not knowing that electricity had been restored.

Also speaking on the incident, the JEDC Head of Corporate Communications, Dr Elijah Adakole, appealed to residents to always resist the temptation to vandalise electrical installations and equipment to avoid such unpleasant occurrences.

Adakole said the company had been losing huge investments through vandalism, hence, the appeal to communities in their franchise areas to protect installations from being vandalised.

He added: “If you see anyone entering any of our transformers, ask questions and interrogate them and if possible, report them to the nearest security agents.

“We know that these assets serve the various communities, so it behoves communities to take ownership of the facilities so that all of us can benefit from them maximally.

“When equipment are vandalised, communities will be in darkness, economic activities will be affected, social life truncated, security of the area could be compromised.”

The Star