Nigeria: The rich also steal, not just money, but electricity too
By Chinyere Ogbonna -Theft of electricity, the criminal practice of stealing electrical power is a crime punishable by fines and or incarceration. Every Nigerian understands that the country’s energy sector has been faced by numerous problems ranging from overestimated billings, lack of prepaid metres, irregular power supply, electricity theft among other issues.
There is a constant instability in electricity supply and as a result, the standard of living deteriorates. This has been blamed on a lot of factors, one of which is electricity theft.
Electricity providers have been using various media platforms to educate members of the public of the dangers and fines in tampering with electrical installations. Despite these warnings, cases of energy theft have continued unabated and even escalating at a very disturbing rate.
It has been identified as one of the nation’s economic threat denying service providers tariff payable to them. More worrisome is the fact that influential people who occupy prominent positions in various professional spaces, who ordinarily should be able to pay for utility services, have over the years been spotted to also be involved in this criminal act. They include senior military personnel, hoteliers, club owners and other business operators. The involvement of influential personalities in the criminal act has been a source of concern to electricity providers in Nigeria popularly referred to as DISCOS.
According to an electricity policy document, electricity theft is a deliberate act by an electricity consumer to cut down or reduce the total amount payable on electricity consumed, resulting to total or partial loss of revenue due to the utility providers. People steal electricity in their homes and businesses premises by disconnecting or altering connection cables from the meter, and connecting directly from the poles. Others do so by bypassing some energy consuming gadgets such pressing irons, electrical stoves, air conditioners among others.
Mrs. Eugenia Okoro narrated how she bypassed some equipment in her house to reduce the tariff payable to the utility provider due to overestimated billings. “When you do bypass, you can use some of the gadgets in the house, such as air conditioners, but they bypass some of the lines so that they could be used directly”.
Also, stipulated in the policy document is the presence of a drilled hole on the glass cover of the electric meter or at the back, or any other part of the meter. It also involves the presence of a tampered, broken or fake seal on the meter or mutilated, altered or tampered meter recording chart or graph. Others are the presence in premises or building which is subject to the control of the customer or any electric meter. Reversing transformer jumper or any similar device.
Electricity Distribution Companies popularly known as DISCOS, lose huge revenues that should be accruable to them on a daily basis. Some consumers tap their electricity supply directly from the pole at night and pull them down before eight o’clock in the morning as was observed at No. 10 Adigboluja Street, Ojodu-Abiodun community in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, Southwest, Nigeria, during series of visits and with a bold inscription on the wall “AK-47 STAY CLEAR”. Residents said this had gone on for a long time.
“People in this house have not been paying for electricity consumed and nobody can dare them. Not even the DISCOS. Each time they came, a man in the house threatens them and they go away”. “If you come here anytime from seven o’clock in the evening, pm when they know that officials of the distribution company, Ikeja Electric, have closed for the day and are not likely to go around, they come to hang it back and use it all through the night and pull it down in the morning before the officials would resume duty for the day”.
“Some of the officials of one of the DISCOS, after residents of the street reported, came to capture a picture of the building as well as the illegal connection”. “The implication of this for residents is that whatever occupants of this house consume monthly, is shared among residents of the area using the same transformer and that I why we are issued high bills monthly by the service providers”
Illegal Electricity connection by a customer at Ojodu-Abiodun in Ifo Local Government
The offenders adopt various strategies to steal electricity into their individual homes, business premises, including hotels, clubs and even an estate. One of them, who owns an estate in Lekki axis of Lagos state, southwest, Nigeria illegally tapped electricity underground into his estate from a neighbouring location and had used it for a long time before it was dictated. According to the Spokesman, Eko Electricity Distribution Company, (EKEDC), Mr. Godwin Idemudia, he tried everything humanly possible to prevent his name being made public, calling the high and mighty to intervene on his behalf and eventually opted to settle out of court and paid some millions to the company.
One of them bypassed some high energy consuming gadgets, thereby reducing the amount of tariff payable to the service provider, while another one tapped electricity directly from the pole. Spokesperson to EKO Distribution Company, (EKEDC) Mr. Godwin Idemudia speaks on some of such cases. “There is a man who is presently in Ikoyi Prisons, he owns a hotel, he bypassed, he was caught and the Magistrate asked that he be remanded in prison custody until trial commences”.
“We equally had one club owner, a man that owns an estate, we had one too in Surulere, he was detained at the Criminal Investigation Department, Panti in Lagos, southwest, Nigeria. The guy was so powerful and thought nothing would happen but we took him up and he was equally arrested”.
Data from Eko Electricity Distribution Company, (EKEDC) between January and September 2018 indicates that various amounts were recovered from offenders in various districts under their networks. From the Island District, 7 million fifty-three thousand, fifty-seven naira, eighty-eight kobo were recovered, while six million, eight hundred and fifty-four thousand, three hundred and sixty-four naira was recovered in Ibeju district.
It is a case involving Akintola James and the matter was charged to Magistrate Court 1 Tinubu, Lagos Island, on the 6th of August, 2018 and the case came up for hearing on the 22nd of October, 2018. From the Ojo District, one million seven thousand, seven hundred and seventy-two naira, thirty-four kobo was realized between July and September. In Orile district Eighty-eight thousand naira was electricity thieves between July and August, 2018.
Also in Mushin District, three million, four hundred and seventy-one thousand, sixty naira, twenty-nine kobo was realized. Elsewhere in Lekki, twenty-one million, seven hundred and fifty-nine thousand, six hundred and eighty-nine naira, two kobo were recovered from Abel Yakubu and Anor. The case was charged to court and came up for trial on November the eleventh, 2018
In FESTAC, a case of illegal reconnection involving Eze Chibueze was established and charged to the Federal High Court and come up for hearing in the 5th of December, 2018.
Also in Agbara district a case of illegal reconnection involving Chidiebere Emmanuel came up for hearing on October 31st. In another development, four million, two hundred and forty-six thousand, one hundred and sixty-four naira, thirty-two kobo were recovered within the same period. In total, fifty-three million, two hundred and nine thousand, sixty-four naira, seventy-six kobo were realized from various offenders within their network coverage areas.
According to Mr. Idemudia, “Some of these personalities went all out to ensure that their names were not made public using what they called “Name and Shame” strategy of the company, calling the high and mighty in Abuja, the nation’s capital to intervene on their behalf”. The Head, Legal Department, EKEDC, Mrs. Lola Ojoye, since we have settled, it would amount to a breach of agreement, if we reveal the identities of the people involved after settling out of court.
“We cannot release the names of those involved to you because we have already settled with them and disclosing their identities would amount to a breach of agreement. We would rather work with you on new cases”. However, two offenders are already in court. They are the owners of Samoli Guest House, located in Surulere, Lagos, southwest, Nigeria, Chief Kolade Oluwole Ogunbiyi. Although the hotel is managed by the son, Michael Ogunbiyi.
Another operator and owner of Pipe View Hotel located in Ojo area of Lagos, Okenna Ugochukwu of Unity Estate Ishasi, who according to an official of the legal department of EKEDC has been a problematic offender. Efforts to get his lawyer to speak did not yield the anticipated result, as he said he could not speak on a matter that was already in court.
“Are you aware that the matter is before the Magistrate court and the High Court? I’m afraid, I may not be able to say anything”. Spokesman to EKEDC, Mr. Godwin Idemudia, speaks on whose product is stolen when a case of energy theft is established.
“The product that is stolen when there is theft Is that of the distribution company. This is because, once transmission sends you the energy, you are expected to pay for it. So, when you now steal it, it is already a crime”.
Electricity theft which consists of stealing both the energy and infrastructure is one of the biggest threats to uninterrupted and reliable electricity supply. It has huge impact on the economy. In some cases, where some clinics lack generators, a power cut can disable critical machinery and the lives of patients put at risk.
Spokesman, Eko Electricity Distribution Company, (EKEDC), Mr. Godwin Idemudia said electricity theft has remained a major challenge for service providers.
“It is unfortunate that some people do not see why they have to pay for electricity consumed. We have some people we call free riders, those that weld things. They work between twelve midnight and four am, they roam about like herdsmen, once they get to where they feel that the power is stable, they throw in their cables on top of electricity cables and they start working, before 4:am when people start waking up, they removed it again and they relocate. These are some of the challenges”.
Residents of Ikate in Lekki and Ikeja areas of Lagos shared divergent views on why the act has continued unabated, alleging collaboration between personnel of the DISCOS, service providers and residents of the various communities for their personal gains.
Mrs. Eugenia Okoro, a consumer confirmed the collaboration theory between staff of DISCOS by confessing that she paid the sum of twenty thousand naira to a staff Ikeja Electric to get her meter manipulated to reduce her tariff.
“There was a time that I was using bypass. The reason was, they were giving us high estimated bills, we could even get as much as thirty thousand, forty thousand in a month, and when you check it, how many times do they even give us light? I had to call one of NEPA officials to help us do the illegal connections. I paid twenty thousand (20,000.00) for the guy to do the illegal connection”.
Some residents are of the view that the illegal act thrives because service providers had continued to exploit their customers using over estimated billings and charging people for darkness.
“Power issue in Nigeria is a paradox. Today we are looking at stealing of from the AID and stealing from the people by the AID, no doubt, whichever way you look at it, there a huge and gross theft taking place. People steal huge sum of money from the AID by not paying their bills, manipulating the meter and illegal connections, while AID are also stealing big time from people by over billing, not supplying electricity and charging people for darkness”.
“They have their targets in most of the communities. Most of the house owners do not pay bills at all. What they only do is that at the end of the month, they set aside some amount of money for NEPA officials”. The is another system they soon meters, they come to slow it down. Communities cannot just go to poles disconnect or connect without the knowledge of NEPA officials”.
“There is a particular community in that Aja axis, Ikota Housing Estate, PHCN came and gave them of 1million naira and they people are going around giving bottle necks to consumers. They are making more than 13 million. They extra money, they are sharing it both the PHCN and the community leaders. The thing is causing a row in that community”.
Could it be that there were no measures put in place to check cases of energy theft?
Mr. Idemudia said there were adequate measures put in place to check abuses.
“We try to have smart meters because there is a SIM in each of these smart meters, when you tamper with it, that Communication is sent to your system and it flags it red. If you bypass also we have smart meters in place that does that and we have skider that does that. It is a system put in place to monitor all our transformers under our network”.
Mr. Idemudia said his company has zero tolerance for criminal behaviour from members of staff.
“We have zero tolerance from our members of staff who collaborate with customers to defraud the company. If caught, we investigate and if found guilty, we sack such a staff”.
He noted that punishment varies depending on the gravity of the offense.
The National Coordinator, Consumer Protection Forum Mr. Adeola Ilorin said there are legal implications for energy theft.
“A case of theft is criminal case in which the punishment is stipulated in all the law that relate to criminal matters. Electricity theft and other matters is an economic sabotage as stipulated in Electric Power Reform Act 2005. So, anyone caught doing it, it is criminal, he can be charged for such act as well as economic saboteur”.
The activist who condemned all forms of criminalities, including electricity theft, said that estimated bills issued to consumers does not in any way justify people tampering with electrical installations of stealing the infrastructure. Mr. Ilori however said that the Consumer Protection Forum was working out modified to begin to take legal actions against any DISCO who disconnects a customer’s line without following laid down procedures.
On the way forward, Mr. Idemudia called for a reduction on the stringent measure put in place by the government to attract investors into the sector. “The government should continue to support the investors. Stringent policies should be reduced to attract to encourage investors to put in more money”.
He said that company has a whistle blowing policy where anyone who blows the whistle gets a certain percentage of the amount recovered from such offender. ” We have a whistle blowing policy whereby if you tell us what is going on and we confirm it, we compensate you with a particular percentage of what we are going toner over there”. So, do not just close your eyes to illegality. Electricity theft can keep you in darkness indefinitely. When you see something, say something.
