Two persons arrested by community members are now in police custody for allegedly vandalising an electricity transformer in Aliade, Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue State. Residents in Aliade had earlier arrested one of the suspects whose confession later led to the arrest of the second person.
The locals immediately handed over the suspects, a vandal and a buyer, to the police for investigation and prosecution.
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Daily Trust gathered that the suspected vandal, Peter Awanger, who resides in Aliade, was nabbed about 2am on Monday while vandalising the transformer located at the LGEA Primary School in Aliade.
It was learnt that the youth who effected the arrest of the suspect invited the traditional ruler of Aliade, Chief John Wunde, to the scene of the incident before handing him over to the police for investigation.
The suspected vandal was said to have, upon interrogation, confessed to vandalising a total of five distribution transformers within the locality while he had been selling the vandalised items such as armoured cables, feeder pillar units, spans of aluminum conductors among other parts to one Christian Odunwa in Makurdi.
The Head, Corporate Communication of Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC), Dr Friday Adakole Elijah, said based on the suspect’s confession, the police took him to Makurdi where the said Odunwa was identified and arrested on Tuesday August, 24, 2021.
When contacted, the Police Spokesperson for Benue Command, DSP Catherine Anene, confirmed the incident to our correspondent by telephone and said the suspects had been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation.
