The alertness of residents of Essipon in the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolis of the Western Region has led to the arrest of a young man suspected to be among a syndicate behind the stealing of ECG cables in the area.
According to the residents, the thief who gave his name as Sumaila Abdullah was spotted around the incident area with another colleague at about 1:00pm Monday afternoon. Their movements became suspicious after the residents had monitored them for some time.
“They were just patrolling the area as though they were on the lookout for something,’’ one resident recounted
Since they were not known members of the community, the residents decided to keep a close eye on them. The two entered the bushes under one of the distribution lines of ECG.
Within minutes, the residents indicated they saw one of the cables hanging loosely. The residents rushed on the two and saw Sumaila folding a cable.
“We tried to arrest them but a fight ensued. I was able to overpower Sumaila and restrain him. Unfortunately, my other colleague could not overpower the other thief. In fact, in the struggle, the thief bit my colleague. Because I was then restraining Sumaila I could not go and help him. And so, he managed to escape,” Kweku Essiam narrat.
Other residents lamented how they have to spend thousands of cedis to replace their electrical appliances due to the activities of the thieves.