A former employee of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) was arrested last week in Anambra State for bypassing and tampering with consumers’ prepaid metres.
Emeka Ezeh, Head of Corporate Communications at EEDC, made the announcement on Thursday in Enugu.
Lawrence Okeke, the suspect, specialises in replacing original metre sensors with phoney ones, bypassing the metres and preventing them from recording actual client consumption.
This development has had a negative influence on the distribution company’s revenues.
Ezeh stated that in response to a whistleblower’s report, the company’s Metre Monitoring Team was dispatched to select locations for normal metre monitoring inspections.
They noticed that the metre was bypassed at one of the locations visited on Bida Road in Onitsha, and the original metre sensor had been removed and replaced with a fake one.
As the team questioned the client, who had already acknowledged their conclusions, the client divulged the name and phone number of the bypass technician, Lawrence Okeke, an ex-EEDC employee.
Lawrence was immediately tracked and detained before being turned over to the Central Police Station in Onitsha, where he is currently assisting the police with their investigation.
According to Ezeh, Lawrence Okeke, a resident of Adogba Village in the Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State, was fired from EEDC in December 2020 for extreme misconduct.
“The apprehension of the suspect by the team is a great breakthrough in the organization’s fight against meter bypass and energy theft”, Ezeh said.
“It is believed that by the time the investigation is concluded, a lot of atrocities already perpetrated by the likes of Lawrence in our network, will be unraveled.”
Ezeh warned customers who engage in metre bypass to stop as the company has increased its prepaid metre monitoring activities, and anyone caught will face the consequences.
He also warned customers about the activities of some former EEDC employees who continue to act as if they are still employed by the company while extorting unsuspecting customers and engaging in criminal and illegal activities that undermine the organization’s efforts to provide quality services to its valued clients.
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“Customers should always be mindful of who they are engaging as staff of EEDC and be sure of their identity, as a lot of people out there carrying out illegalities, parading as staff of EEDC are not in its employ,” Ezeh warned.
While commending the whistleblower for providing the information that led to Lawrence’s arrest, Ezeh urged customers to report any suspected cases of metre bypass and energy theft.
