Court summons 20 over illegal connections

The Tamale magistrate court in the Northern Region has given an order for the arrest of some residents of Dohanayili who are allegedly involved in illegal electricity connections.

Information available indicates that about 20 suspects have since been served a court summons to appear before the court.

Some staff of the Volta River Authority (VRA) in the region escaped being lynched a few days ago in the Dohanayili community when they went to arrest a resident for alleged power theft.

Authorities of VRA had to call armed police officers to escort them to retrieve their vehicle tyres which were deflated.

A fortnight ago, a female staff of VRA was slapped at Lamakara when a warrant was released for the arrest of the defaulter, but some of the community members reportedly assisted her to escape.

The metropolitan police commander and about 30 armed police officers were said to have been stoned and chased out of the community.

A heavy downpour last week Thursday left parts of Dohanayili without power supply as lightning and thunderstorm destroyed the only transformer serving the community.

Despite reports of the outages, staff of VRA refused to go to the community because the residents had threatened them regarding illegal connections.

The Public Relations Officer of the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCO), Alaasan Abaaba, told DAILY GUIDE that the court had given the VRA authority to invite persons suspected of illegal connections in the Dohanayili area to appear before it (court).

According to him, illegal connection is on the rise in the area and some parts of the Tamale metropolis, which is worrying because most residents know the perpetrators but would not report them.

Mr. Abaaba warned that the war against illegal connections would continue, despite the threats, indicating that there was no way consumers of electricity would use it illegally without being caught.

“Whether you steal for a month, day or year, you will be found one day and when that day comes, you will be made to pay for all the times you used power illegally,” he claimed.

The chief of Doahayili, Wurushia-Naa, told DAILY GUIDE that the community had regretted its actions and was therefore pleading with the VRA to restore power in the community.

“I have met with the entire community and I speak on their behalf. We say we’re sorry for our actions,” he apologized.