Korede Abdullah in Lagos
A suspected cable vandal met his untimely death in Akute, Ogun State, while attempting to steal transformer cables in the early hours of Saturday.
According to residents, the man gained access to the transformer area during a power outage, but electricity supply was restored while he was cutting the cables, leading to his electrocution.
The spokesman for the Ogun State Police Command, Omolola Odutola, confirmed the incident, stating that the deceased had climbed into the transformer house and “while attempting to cut a wire, got electrocuted and died”.
The incident was reported to the police by the chairman of the Irewole community, Rasheed Ajagbe, who stated that the community had been experiencing theft and damage of electrical wires from their power transformer.
Odutola revealed that a team of detectives visited the scene, took photographs, and deposited the corpse at the General Hospital Ifo mortuary for autopsy and preservation.
The police spokesman quoted Ajagbe as saying, “At about 7 am, he received a call to inspect the transformer and he went there with other community executives.
When they arrived at the transformer house, they found the lifeless body of an unidentified individual and saw that the man had attempted to vandalise a wire, which then resulted in electrocution.”
