The acting General Manager of the Accra West Region of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Emmanuel Ankomah, says the company will do all within its power to safeguard its staff from harm.
“In partnership with the security agencies, we have put in place elaborate measures to identify, surcharge and rectify all illegal connections in customers’ installations in the region,” he said.
Mr. Ankomah also advised customers to freely report any suspected illegal connections to the nearest ECG office and promised that aside from the identity of the whistle-blower being protected, there was a cash reward for such persons.
Obra spot
Mr. Ankomah was reacting to the latest attacks on some technical staff of the ECG by two middle-aged men at the Obra Spot at the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange in Accra.
The two who allegedly assaulted the ECG staff are John Arthur and Benjamin De-Graft Mensah.
Narrating the incident to the Daily Graphic, the ECG Accra West Regional Revenue Protection Manager, Ebenezer Fiador, stated that following a tip-off that some squatters in the area were engaged in varied forms of electricity theft, a technical team was detailed to do an on-site investigation.
Illegalities
‘’The massive illegalities we identified were not only ripping the company of much-needed revenue but they posed an imminent threat to life and property in the area.
“The technical team disconnected all the illegal connections and surcharged the users for the stolen power,” he said.
Mr. Fiador continued that after the disconnection, the squatters failed to show up to settle the bills, and a follow-up investigation revealed that they had engaged private electricians to reconnect supply to them.
An attempt to disconnect the customers again was met with threats of violence, including an attempt to set the ECG vehicle ablaze.
Arrest
Mr. Fiador said the police were called in to intervene and they arrested the suspects.
