The Weija Circuit Court has remanded a 24-year-old unemployed man into prison custody for stealing and causing unlawful damage to fuses fixed in electricity distribution panels belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Ltd.
The fuses are estimated to be worth GH¢15,840.
Michael Ofori, popularly known as Sammy, was charged with two counts of causing unlawful damage and stealing.
He pleaded guilty to the charge of causing unlawful damage, but not guilty to stealing, and will reappear in court on November 27, 2024. The case is being presided over by Mr. Joshua Caleb Abaidoo.
The prosecution, led by Police Inspector Joseph Barabu, told the court that on November 15, at about 5 a.m., the complainant in the case, Mohammed Ibrahim, spotted the accused within the fence of ECG’s transformer and distribution panel at Ayigbe Town, allegedly removing fuses from the panel with a plier.
The accused, according to the prosecution, narrowly escaped the scene upon seeing the complainant, leaving behind his loot and tools.
The complainant then called the ECG office at Bortianor to report the incident and handed over the items to them.
The prosecution continued that the complainant chanced upon the accused the following day and immediately instigated his arrest.
The accused was sent to the New Weija Police Station, where he was rearrested and interrogated. During the interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed to removing 12 fuses from the distribution panel.
The accused also reportedly led police to other ECG installations in the area, where he had previously broken locks and stolen an unspecified number of fuses.
The court was informed that, for some time, the police at the SCC, Weija, had received several reports of thefts of prepaid meters and fuses from electricity distribution panels belonging to ECG.
Source: GNA