A 34 years old man, Christian Anigbo has been arraigned before a Lagos Magistrate Court over alleged electricity theft.

Anigbo, a resident of No. 3, Balogun Street, Off Obafemi Awolowo Way, Ikeja, was arraigned on three counts of conspiracy, unlawful interference with Ikeja Electric’s property and electricity theft under Sections 411, 412, 340 and 168(d) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

Anigbo who allegedly bypassed electricity metre, was said to have been arrested on November 28 by an investigation of the Disco and handed over to the police for prosecution.

The defendant and others at large, allegedly reconnected his electricity unlawfully, thereby tampering with the disco’s metre to bypass it in order to consume electrify.

He allegedly conducted himself in a manner likely to cause breach of peace by connecting electricity unlawfully in a public place.

Anigbo pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and was admitted to bail in N200,000 with two sureties each in like sum.

The court held that the sureties must provide evidence of tax payment and their addressed must be verified. It subsequently ordered that the defendant be remanded in prison custody pending the perfection of his bail.

The natter was adjourned to January 19, 2023 for mention.

Reacting to the incident, Ikeja Electric’s Head, Legal and Regulation Compliance, Osadare, lamented that energy theft was one of the major challenges DisCos faced, warning customers to desist from such acts.
According to him, the negative impacts of energy theft were grave, adding that they robbed the value chain of critical revenue required to effectively drive the power sector.

He emphasised that it was both legally and morally wrong for people to use electricity and avoid payment.

Osadare said: “The safety of lives and property also matter as tampering with meters and acts of illegal connections can lead to total blackout, explosion and even electrocution. It is therefore the collective responsibility of everyone in our communities to ensure that the provision of electricity services is not disrupted.

“We will continue to work hard to ensure excellent customer experience by our esteemed customers, which speaks to our mantra “Customer first, technology now.”