From Douglas Blessing, Port Harcourt
The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution has petitioned five persons allegedly involved in meter bypass in Port Harcourt, to the Rivers State Police Command.
The petition came as a result of regular financial sabotage and breach of regulations guiding the willful destruction of critical power assets punishable by extant laws.
Head, Corporate Communications, PHED, John Anonyai, who spoke on the development, disclosed that one of the suspects, a high profile politician in Rivers State, was caught in a high-level meter bypass through deliberate diversion of electricity from the main source to his property illegally, with the intention of avoiding payment of bill.
Anonyai warned that the commany is prepared to apprehend anyone caught in meter bypass irrespective of the individual’s status in the society, noting that “this will serve as a deterrent to others”.
“From the investigation by the Revenue Protection Department, it was gathered that the said consumer has been involved in this act of meter bypass for a long time and has constantly denied PHED officials access to his premises for routine check until he ran out of luck.
“It is important to note that this politician has set a precedence because his action could encourage other members of the public to engage in meter bypass as observed from the alarming trend of meter bypass recorded in recent months.
“Consequently, due to this trend, PHED loses over N2.5B to meter bypass monthly which is impacting negatively on our operations to distribute electricity to other responsible customers.”
He recalled that the PHED’s Managing Director, Dr Henry Ajagbawa had appealed to customers to dissociate themselves from meter bypass as such atrocious act is a punishable offence under the law.
“Dr Ajagbawa cited the ESPRA Act (2005), Miscellaneous Offences Act and the Nigerian Criminal Code as enshrined in the constitution to prosecute crimes of meter bypass and other practices inimical to the operations of service providers”.
