Residents of A’Ibom community catch transformer vandal

Abasiofiok Inyang

Residents of Okon Dan Street in the Abak Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State have arrested a transformer vandal identified as Ubong Udeme Okpokpo.

It would be recalled that at, least, four transformers within Abak town have been vandalised within the last six months.

The alleged vandal, who was caught with transformer cables and other accessories in the early hours of Sunday, 19 May 2024, hails from Obio Ndot community in the Oruk Anam Local Government Area but lives in Midim Waterside village.

It was gathered that the transformer that supplied electricity to Okon Dan, Davis Ekpo and environs had broken down since December and the residents have been in darkness for over six months.

The residents were said to have been contributing a huge sum of money to fix the transformer when the vandals began to steal cables and one was eventually caught, while the others escaped, leaving the cables and other vandalized items behind.

The angry residents descended heavily on the alleged vandal, and it took divine intervention by a good Nigerian to save him from jungle justice. He was later handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution.

Speaking with our reporter shortly before the police whisked him away, the 25-year-old alleged vandal who claimed to be a dealer in scrap items, denied vandalising the transformer.

He stated that the transformer parts the residents recovered from him were scrap materials at Ikot Oku Mfang village.

He, however, failed to convince the residents how his accomplice got the bundles of transformer cables they abandoned while fleeing from the crowd.

The police team that arrested the suspect declined to speak with our reporter.