The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC) has announced the conviction of four individuals in Ebonyi State for vandalising its power assets. The sentences were handed down in separate judgments by the High Court of Ebonyi State, Ohaukwu Judicial Division, sitting in Ezzangbo.

In a statement on Thursday, EEDC’s Group Head of Corporate Communications, Mr. Emeka Ezeh, said the convictions underscore the company’s ongoing efforts to curb attacks on power infrastructure across the South-East.

According to the statement, on 12 November 2025, Justice John Igboji convicted Chukwuma Onwe on a three-count charge of conspiracy, unlawful disconnection, damage to transformer armoured cables, and stealing — offences that violate the Ebonyi State Criminal Code, Cap 33, Laws of Ebonyi State 2009.

Onwe was sentenced to three years for conspiracy and four years each for vandalism and stealing, with all sentences to run concurrently. He was arrested in September 2023 for vandalising an EEDC transformer in Ntsulakpa, Ezzangbo community.

In a separate ruling on 7 November 2025, the same court sentenced Okefe Stanley, Aleke Kingsley, and Egba Friday to four years in prison each for vandalism, unlawful disconnection, and removal of aluminium conductors belonging to EEDC. The trio, arrested on 5 June 2023 by the Oshituma Community vigilante group in Ohaukwu LGA, also received three-year sentences for conspiracy. The court ordered their jail terms to run concurrently as well.

Ezeh added that these convictions follow a similar judgment delivered in August 2025, when four other vandals — Ikechukwu Esseh, Ikedinachi Uche, Ukpai Godwin, and Uchenna Kalu — were sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment by Justice Nicholas E. Nwode for attacking a 7.5MVA injection substation at Education Board Road, Afikpo.

Commending the judiciary, police, and community vigilante groups for their collaboration, EEDC called for the swift prosecution of other pending vandalism cases.

“We are pleased with these judgments and hope they serve as a deterrent to those engaging in such criminal acts,” Ezeh said.

He warned that persistent attacks on electricity infrastructure drain the company’s limited resources — funds that could otherwise be used to improve power supply to customers.

EEDC urged communities to remain vigilant and help safeguard power installations, stressing that vandalism leads to prolonged outages and severe inconvenience for residents.