3 Remanded in Prison for Stealing Ikeja Electric cables

Three suspected vandals, Kabiru Musa, 20; Abubakar Mohammed Umar, 25 and Rayyali Ibrahim 23, have been remanded in Kirikiri Prisons Lagos for damaging and stealing armored cables from a transformer belonging to Ikeja Electric Plc, at NEPA Coop Estate in Ijede, Ikorodu.

The trio were arraigned at Agbowa Magistrate Court in Ikorodu following their attempt to cart away with cables they had severed from the transformer. They pleaded not guilty to the three-count charge when they appeared before His Honour Magistrate A. O Ogbe on Thursday, July 26, 2018. 

According to the charge sheet, the trio did conspire among themselves “to commit felony to willful damage and stealing and thereby committed an offense punishable under the section 411 of the criminal law, laws of the Lagos State of Nigeria 2015.

The charge further stated that they “willfully and unlawfully interfered with Ikeja Electric Distribution Company’s Electric Transformer thereby disconnecting its Step-Down cable and Upriser Cable with intent to steal and thereby committed an offense punishable under section 340 of the criminal law, laws of the Lagos State of Nigeria 2015. “On the same date, time and place in the aforementioned Magisterial District the suspects did steal 24 meter of electric transformer armored cable value Sixty Five Thousand Naira (N65,000) property of Ikeja Electric Distribution Company and thereby committed an offense punishable under section 280(2)(a) of the criminal law, laws of the Lagos State of Nigeria 2015,” the charge read.

Magistrate A. O Ogbe adjourned the case till next month for hearing while the three suspects have been moved to Kirikiri Prison for failure to meet the bail conditions. In his reaction, Head of Corporate Communications for Ikeja Electric, Felix Ofulue, confirmed that vandalism, theft of electricity materials and energy theft through meter bypass and illegal connections, remain a major challenge facing the company.

According to him, these illegal activities further sabotages the company’s efforts to provide excellent service delivery as customers will be affected by the extended power outage resulting from these unpleasant activities. He commended the security agencies for providing dependable support and for the role they play in protecting IE infrastructure against vandalism while he further urged the Community Development Association (CDA) chairmen and members of the public to assist the DisCo in safeguarding the electrical infrastructure in their respective communities.

MILE 12 TRADERS'LL RELOCATE SOON- Ambode

AgegePulse Magazine

Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has said the popular Mile 12 Market traders will soon relocate to a new market at Imota, which, he said, will be ready before the end of December.

The current location of the market at Ketu area, aside from being described as one of the filthiest markets in the state, has also been linked to the regular gridlock in the area.

The governor spoke through the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Adebowale Akinsanya, during a tour of projects by members of the state executive council to Imota, Agbowa Ikosi axis of the state, where the regional food stuff markets, Imota Housing Scheme, Imota Rice Mill and Agbowa Sawmills are located.

He said the first phase of the project, designed to accommodate about 1,500 shops, is already at 75 percent completion stage and would be delivered before the end of the year.

Adequate provisions, he said, have been made in the new market, to avoid the challenges which the present Mile 12 Market and other markets in the area constitute to the environment.



“We have seen what is going on as to our commitment to make this place a regional market. The first phase is 75 percent completed. The major challenge has been accomplished, though we still have some things to sort out, but, we are over the hurdle.

“What remains is to keep going, speed up and with the commitment of this government, we should be able to complete this project by September and, hopefully, by the end of the year, all the different markets in Mile 12 will be able to move here, and it will be a one-shop-centre for everybody,” he said.

The market, which is in two phases, will, among others, have facilities such as 1,000 capacity car park, over 100 capacity trailer park, power stations, sewage system and treatment,  bus lay-by, fire stations, concretised roads and drainages.

Also, the governor promised that a  32 tonnes rice mill, which he described as the largest in Africa, currently under construction in Imota, will be ready for commission in the first quarter of 2019

The project, he said, when completed, will provide over 200,000 jobs across the agricultural value chain, while it will also bring about the cultivation of 32,000 hectares of farmland, to produce rice paddy, which he equated to an estimated 130 million Kilogrammes (kg) of processed rice, per year (an equivalent of 2.6 milion 50kg bags of rice