Cable thieves jailed 19 years

An Accra Circuit Court has sentenced three persons to a total of 19 years imprisonment for stealing quantities of copper cables belonging to Vodafone Ghana, a mobile telecom operator.

A statement from Vodafone Ghana to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Saturday said the cables valued at GH¢22,068.00 affected over 2,000 customers including some financial and educational institutions and residents in Abeka, a suburb of Accra.

It said prosecuting DSP Alex Odonkor from the Greater Accra Police Command told the Court that on March 25, 2012, Sherif Yakubu and David Adzedu, wore Vodafone T-shirts and hired Kojo Joshua Atimbila, a driver of a crane truck to convey the cables from Abeka Junction to Vodafone’s former headquarters in Kwame Nkrumah Circle.

The statement said Kojo Joshua Atimbila claimed Sherif and David told him they were staff of Vodafone and charged them GH¢350 for the use of the truck.

According to the statement, residents in the area became suspicious when they saw the three dragging the cables into the truck and reported the incident to the Tesano Police Station.

“Sensing danger on arrival of Police personnel, all three took to their heels however Sherif Yakubu and Kojo Joshua were apprehended,” the statement said.

It added that David was later arrested and all three of them were charged with conspiracy and stealing.

“Sherif and David were sentenced to seven years imprisonment each while Kojo was sentenced to five years,” it noted.

The statement said Head of External Affairs at Vodafone, Nana Yaa Ofori Atta commended the collaborative efforts between the Police and the Judicial Service in yielding such a positive result.

“We now have special courts on Saturdays to expedite action on all cable theft cases,” it added.

The statement urged the public to remain vigilant and report cable theft to the Police on 18555 or call 155 on the Vodafone line to speak to members of Vodafone’s security team, adding Cable thefts account for nearly 25 per cent of all fixed broadband faults reported.