A 30 year-old man identified as Chinenye Mark from Abaye Ohanze in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State was in the early hours of today killed while stealing component parts of a distribution transformer which supplies electric power to the area.
The incident occurred at about 3 am at a substation in Amaorji Ukwu, also in Obingwa LGA, belonging to the Aba Power Ltd, a subsidiary of Geometric Power which has the sole franchise to supply power to nine out of the 17 LGAs in Abia State.
Mark, believed by most people in the locality to be a talented criminal from nearby Abaye Ohanze, was well known by the moniker of Oto Na Gate.
He was tampering with the high tension wire without knowing that it was carrying electricity because the distribution transformer below the overhead wire was vandalized in January, according to Engineer Jude Efidi, a commercial manager with Aba Power.