By EMMA OBI, Calabar –
Three trucks with over 40 transformers suspected to have been stolen have been impounded in Cross River State.
One of the officials in the team that impounded the trucks said they suspect strongly that “the transformers were stolen and are being taken out of the state” before they were intercepted.
The government team that intercepted the trucks was led by the Senior Special Adviser on Power to Governor Ben Ayade, Emmanuel Eneji-Nkpeh, with the support of the State Security Adviser (South) Ani Esin.
In a telephone interview on Monday, the Public Relations Officer of (Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Cross River State Command, Solomon Eremi, confirmed the story.
“I am very much aware of the seizure. For now the trucks are in my command and investigation has commenced.
“There are conflicting stories but at the end of the day, we will get the true position about where they are coming from and where they are taking them to”.
The PRO disclosed that the persons arrested include the drivers and the conductors that were with the vehicles.
“By tomorrow, we will get a clearer picture of where they were supposed to move them to because we were hearing that they were moving them to Lagos,” He said.
The owner of the seized transformers allegedly said he purchased them from a partner with Cross River state government on power projects.
“we are not opposed to the sales of power asset to any individual or organization but as a state, we are primarily concerned with the stake of Cross River State Government in the initial importation of these volume of transformers.” Eneji-Nkpeh added.
He urged the company to allow the government access to the importation documents of the distribution transformers in order to ascertain the ownership.
The Senior Special Adviser said he suspects that the “transformers were procured to be used for power projects in Cross River State. As I speak, the three trucks are under the custody of NSCDC. He disclosed.
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