A middle-aged man suspected of being a cable thief has been electrocuted at the Adoato Substation ‘B’ of the Electricity Company of Ghana in Kumasi, Ashanti region.
The lifeless body of the unidentified man was found lying supine with one hand clung onto a copper end of high-voltage cables while he held a pair of pliers in the other hand.
Authorities say the deceased whose body was discovered on Saturday morning entered the premises of this important installation illegally through an underground tunnel and gained access to the substation on the blind side of security men on duty.
General Manager of Ashanti Sub-Station, Ing. Peter Kofi Fletcher, who led a team of ECG officials to the scene, was shocked to discover several electrical cables had been destroyed, plunging several communities within Kumasi into total darkness.
“These wires, they are not just for fun. They serve a purpose that if you cut any potion, it causes a whole lot of problems to the sub-station.
“This station carries 33,000 volts. In fact, the voltage in your house is just about 230 volts but you have these guys, they come in, cut some small-small portions and they go out and sell them as scraps.
“Now half of the station is down, off, and this is cost to us- cost of unserved energy plus what he has even damaged. We now have to go and bring in conductors and logs and repair them.”
This is the second time in four months that cable thieves have invaded the premises of the same substation.
”This year, this is the second time this has happened at this station, and it’s all over around. Distribution sub-stations are being vandalised and these are basically scrap dealers who go around, cut some small-small wires,” Ing Fletcher said.
Ing Fletcher tells Joynews the development may force ECG to relook security at its installations as he bemoaned the cost associated with cable cuts amid appeals to the general public to help identify the miscreants who are mostly scrap dealers.
“The cost-in fact, it is so expensive for us especially when customers are off, it means we are not selling. And the cost of replacement can be very, very high.”
Meanwhile, police have conveyed the body of the unidentified man to the mortuary while investigations continue.
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