The Port Harcourt Elec
tricity Distribution Company (PHED) says it has lost nine 500kv transformers worth millions of naira to serial vandals at Aleto, Ebubu ,Alesa and Alele in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The Manager, Corporate Communications, PHED, John Onyi, who disclosed this in a meeting with the Caretaker  Committee Chairman of LGA,, Hon. Godwin Abbey-Ollor and other stakeholders at the Council Headquarters, expressed worries over unabated activities of the serial vandals who in the last two months were in the habit of removing armoured cables, cannibalization of feeder pillars, draining of transformer oil, among others, thereby throwing the affected communities into unnecessary darkness.
Onyi called on the relevant authorities in the area to step up vigilance by accosting or reporting anybody with suspicious movement around PHED installations, adding that the vandals are not ghosts but human beings living in and around the community.
He reiterated  that the company has no provision for replacement of vandalized items, therefore, all hands must be on deck to forestall any act of vandalism on itsinstallations.
According to him, “It is disheartening and worrisome that the unscrupulous activities of the vandals have paralyzed economic activities in the affected communities and most disturbing is that they are not ghosts, they are human beings, living in or around us’.
“We should all rise up against these few disgruntled persons before they stop our comfort”, he said.
The company’s spokesman described the activities of the vandals as economic sabotage resulting in denying PHED’s customers the opportunity of enjoying efficient and quality service delivery.
In his response, the Caretaker Committee Chairman, Hon. Godwin Abbey-Ollor noted the concerns of PHED and charged the Community Development Chairmen, (CDCs), to step up vigilance with a view to curbing the menace of the vandals.
Abbey-Ollor said that he has already established contact with police to ensure that the perpetrators were brought to book.
He, however, pleaded with PHED to improve services adding that he would ensure that customers within his local government area pay their electricity bills.