Officers of the Enugu State Police Command have arrested a 23-year-old suspected vandal, identified as Nnaji Chidiebere, after he was electrocuted while attempting to vandalise a power transformer.
The incident, which happened on August 17 along Ogbaike Road, Obollo-Afor, in Udenu Local Government Area of the state, triggered panic among residents.
Confirming the incident in a statement issued on Tuesday night, the command’s spokesperson, SP Daniel Ndukwe, said residents of the community discovered the suspect trapped inside the transformer enclosure and suffering from severe burns before alerting the command.
He added, “Police officers attached to the Udenu Division responded swiftly to community alerts and found the suspect unconscious at the scene.
“Operatives evacuated the suspect to a nearby medical facility, where medical personnel resuscitated him before transferring him to a specialist hospital for intensive care.”
The PPRO further stated that upon regaining consciousness, Chidiebere claimed he acted alone during the operation.
“However, preliminary police investigations have linked him to ongoing transformer vandalism in the area,” he said.
Ndukwe stated that detectives were conducting further inquiries to determine the full scope of his activities, identify potential accomplices and prepare formal charges for prosecution.
Reacting to the arrest, the Enugu State Commissioner of Police, CP Mamman Giwa, praised members of the Obollo-Afor community for their prompt vigilance and cooperation with law enforcement agencies.
Giwa reaffirmed the command’s commitment to safeguarding public utility infrastructure and urged residents across Enugu State to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities around public installations to the nearest police division.
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