Suspected cable thief escapes death after being electrocuted while allegedly vandalizing transformer in Jos

A suspected vandal escaped death after he was electrocuted while allegedly vandalizing a transformer in the Rayfield area of Jos, Plateau State.

The suspect was nabbed in the early hours of Friday, June 23, 2023.

A resident, Mathew Gonsor Gonet, who confirmed the incident in a Facebook post, alleged that the suspect and his gang have been vandalizing transformers in many parts of the city.

“One of the transformer oil thieves in Jos caught red handed. This guy and his gang are responsible for the darkness in many parts of Jos,” he wrote.

Sharing further details on the incident, one Joy Umar Ret, said Rayfied and other areas have been in darkness for a month due to vandalization of transformers by cable thieves.

The armoured cables were replaced and power restored to the area on Thursday evening, June 22.

The vandal came at about 2am on Friday to carry out another mission but luck ran out for him.

According to her, the suspect was electrocuted while carrying out the act but was rescued by security guards who arrived at the scene upon sighting sparks from the transformer.

“In my area, we haven’t had light for the past one month cause of theft. During the weekend, the transformer was repaired but during the repairing process, it was discovered again that the thieves came back to steal the armored cables so it had to be bought. Through all these, our area, Rayfield road/little Rayfield got light at about 4:30pm yesterday Thursday the 22nd of June 2023,” she wrote.

“Today Friday the 23rd we woke to the sight of another transformer thief. Baba came at about 2am to carry out another mission only to run out of luck this time. He fell into the transformer fence and got electrocuted by the lights. It was in the process of his electrocution that the security guards of houses around heard and sighted the sparks of lights from the transformer house. Then the thief was rescued and caught.”