Port Harcourt Disco Arrests Energy Thieves
Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution (PHED) said it has caught a business conglomerate, Mexis Group Limited allegedly involved in energy theft and bribery.
In a statement by Head, Corporate Communications of PHED, John Anonyai, said that the Mexis company was allegedly caught in the criminal act of meter bypass by officials of PHED in Rumuolumeni axis of Port Harcourt.
In recent times, PHED has intensified its campaign on meter bypass, energy theft and vandalism to dissuade people from such acts identified as existential threats capable of grounding their operations.
According to the statement by Anonyai “Upon discovery of the meter bypass, it was obtained that the proprietress contacted the electrician who buried the service cables underground spanning to the corridor of the premises where she operates a giant cold room to quickly excavate the cables and rearrange the connections to appear like it was never tampered.
“The proprietress, who became destabilised, made a bribery advance of N1million to PHED official in an attempt to stop the escalation of the meter bypass offence. This was foiled as the company’s goal of zero tolerance to corruption is highly entrenched by staff.
“After a joint investigation by officials of PHED and the Police, it was discovered that Mexis Group (maximum demand customer) have been illegally feeding from two feeders (Rumuolumeni & UST) for many years.
“Meanwhile the electrician who was engaged by the proprietress has been arrested in the course of attempting to rearrange the bypass.
“Statistically speaking, the quantum of energy illegally consumed over the years by Mexis Group was estimated to be over N36,000 to say the least.”
He revealed that Mexis Group, like any other person, company caught in any of the aforementioned act will be prosecuted by authorities in accordance with the extant laws to serve as a deterrent to other individuals.
Anonyai regretted that energy theft, meter bypass and vandalism have been an endemic problem for the organization; impacting seriously on the revenue of PHED with a loss of about N2.5bn monthly.
The Managing Director of PHED, Dr Henry Ajagbawa, had resolved to institutionalise and trigger the company’s zero tolerance policy on bribery, vandalism and corruption against any individual culpable regardless of their status in the society.
