NIB joins forces with police to arrest Nigerien national, one other for stealing GRIDCo cables

The joint forces of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) and the Ghana Police Service has led to the arrest of a 19-year-old Nigerien, and a Ghanaian for allegedly stealing fiber optic cables belonging to the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), the Chronicle newspaper reports.

A source revealed that the two, Simon Kwamena Atta, a Ghanaian cocoa farmer; and Osama Adamu, the Nigerien, who operates as a scrap dealer, were arrested at Mpeasem, near Half Assini in Jomoro District on Saturday, August 19, 2023.

The team, comprising the NIB and the police, after retrieving some of the stolen materials at the residence of the arrested persons, also discovered a mud house where the majority of the stolen materials were hoarded.

All the stolen materials were conveyed in three trucks and are currently in the custody of the Half Assini Police, awaiting investigations, The Chronicle newspaper added.

Recently, criminals have targeted electricity cables and transportation signals because of the profitability of these items, the report added.

But these thefts result in serious repercussions, including power outages, communication disruptions, and transportation delays that negatively affect the economic growth of the country in the long run.

There have been reports of theft convictions in past years, for instance at Odumase-Krobo when the Circuit Court convicted a man, William Ntow, to a 7-year prison sentence, after he was found culpable of stealing cables belonging to Vodafone.

The Electricity Company of Ghana has appealed to the general public to help end cable stealing as it creates an unending burden on society.



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