An Accra Circuit Court has remanded a businessman into police custody after he allegedly assaulted an Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) employee over a metre.
Habib Shaibu, the defendant, entered a not guilty plea to the allegations of inflicting harm, purposefully interfering with the ECG distribution system, and obtaining an unreported quantity of electrical power.
The prosecution, led by General Manager in charge of prosecution Mr Paul Assibi Abarigah, challenged the issuance of bail.
The accused’s threatening attitude was cited by the court, which was presided over by Mr. Samuel Bright Acquah, in rejecting the bail petition.
The court date for Shaibu’s appearance is November 17, 2023.
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The prosecution, Mr Abariga, stated that the complainant, Frank Afako, worked for the ECG Revenue Protection Unit, while the accused, Habibi Shaibu, was a merchant from Agyringano.
According to the prosecution, Shaibu ran a mobile phone business in Ashalley Botwe, Accra.
According to the complaint, on January 4, 2023, the complainant and his team went to the accused person’s store and inspected his ECG metre.
The crew discovered that the accused had reportedly used 2.5 cable to tap electricity before the ECG put prepaid metre in his establishment.
According to the prosecution, the complainant then unplugged the electricity and issued a summons to the accused to appear at the ECG office in Legon, but the accused failed to do so.
According to the complaint, on April 4, 2023, the complainant and his team returned to the accused person’s store and discovered that he had removed the fitted ECG prepaid metre and replaced it with an ECG postpaid metre.
According to the prosecution, when Shaibu was asked where the prepaid metre that had been removed was, he was unable to respond.
According to the report, the team’s supervisor directed the complaint to cut the electricity and remove the postpaid metre.
When the complainant removed the metre and exited the store, the accused individual became enraged and physically assaulted him, with blood seeping from the complainant’s lips.
The complainant was transported to Ogbojo Poly Clinic for treatment, but was then referred to Tema General Hospital, according to the prosecution.
According to the prosecution, the case was submitted to the ECG investigation section, and the complainant was given a police medical form.
The medical form was submitted by the complaint and approved by a medical officer from Tema General Hospital.
During the course of the inquiry, the police visited the area (accused person’s shop) and discovered that the accused had reconnected ECG power directly and was utilising it for business.
The accused person was invited to assist investigation.
According to the prosecution, the accused individual reported himself on August 30, 2023, and an investigative caution statement was acquired from him.
