Electricity workers in PH zone come under attack

The attack and bodily harm on electricity workers in the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution (PHED) states seem to escalate as three more workers are said to be in hospital following recent attacks.

But the PHED management has issued a stern statement vowing to take the war back to the attackers within the zone (Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River and Akwa Ibom states).

At the moment, some three staff members of PHED named as Alphonsus Ugwu, Onuoha Ikechukwu, and a wife, Anthonia Nwachukwu, are said to still be in hospital following attacks they suffered at Aluu area of the state capital while on revenue drive.

The personnel were said to be attacked by two persons (one apprehended) with dangerous weapons causing them bodily harm. The attackers were also said to have carried out actions that resulted in shredding their clothing and destroying their telephones.

The attacks have been confirmed by PHED management. Sources from the PHED said eyewitness account also confirmed that the attackers had stripped off the clothes of the electricity workers which they allegedly tore to shreds and allegedly confiscated one worker’s wristwatch and destroyed the company’s ladder while also forcefully collecting one victim’s Samsung Galaxy phone to cripple any effort to call for help from any quarters.

John Anonyai, head, Corporate Communications of PHED, had issued a statement quoting the Acting Managing Director/CEO, Ochuko Amah, as expressing disgust at the alarming rate of assault against the company’s staff.

The statement quoted the MD to affirm that the PHED would no longer fold its arms and watch irresponsible citizens assault and maim their workforce, but would stand shoulder to shoulder with those that target and assault the staff and ensure that whoever is found liable pays dearly for their actions.

She was said to emphasise that the staff work round the clock even under the most difficult circumstances to ensure that customers’ demand for electricity service is met, and thus should be treated as humans, not like animals.

Read also: Nigeria’s electricity market records 22 deaths, 13 injuries Q4 2020- NERC

She wondered why violent persons almost sent PHED staff to their untimely grave.

To set example, the company saw to the successful prosecution of some two attackers in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, who have been sentenced to four years each by a magistrate court in Eket recently for the same criminal offence. This is expected to deter others from embarking on such a risky affair.

Latest information says a magistrate court in the Isiokpo magisterial district in Rivers State has docked a certain Uzoma Wowhor on an eight-count charge (IMC.4C.2022) for assault on staff of the PHED Plc.

According to the charge sheet, the said Wowhor, with an accomplice still at large, had on December 8, 2021, attacked members of staff of the PHED Plc who were said to be on routine revenue drive for the company.

Uzoma, described by the charge sheet as a resident of Mbodo community, Aluu, in the Isiokpo Magisterial District, is accused of unlawfully assaulting Alphonsus Ugwu, Onuoha Ikechukwu, and Anthonia Nwachukwu with dangerous weapons causing them bodily harm. He also carried out actions that resulted in shredding their clothing and destroying their telephones.

The magistrate, I. Isikakaku, citing, section 355A & 451A of the Criminal Code, Cap 38 Vol II, Laws of Rivers State Nigeria 1999, committed the accused to prison detention to await trial.