*Police Nab ATM Card Fraudsters, Save Them From Angry Mob
By Sylvia Kodilichukwu, Enugu
Enugu Electricity Regulatory Commission (EERC) has announced the downgrade of 59 feeders under the franchise of MainPower Electricity Distribution Company Limited.
MainPower is a subsidiary of Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), which services customers in Enugu State.
EERC attributed the action to MainPower’s failure to meet the threshold of minimum hours of power availability, especially for Band A customers, despite charging them Band A tariff.
It could be recalled that the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on 1 November, 2020 categorized electricity users into bands.
It included Band A: those to receive minimum of 20 hours; Band B: minimum of 16 hours; Band C: minimum of 12 hours; Band D: minimum of eight hours and Band E: minimum of four hours.
However, there has been outcry by electricity users in Enugu over the inability of MainPower to meet the electricity supply target, necessitating EERC’s intervention in line with its statutory powers.
A public notice, signed by the Commission, said the downgrade would remain in place until power supply improved on such feeders.
Providing background to the decision, EERC said it arose following persistent complaints from electricity consumers, particularly Band A customers, in the state.
Their complaints pertained to the drastically reduced hours of supply.
Consequently, EERC said it conducted a technical and safety audit of major injection substations operated by MainPower.
“In addition, the Commission continued its routine monitoring of MainPower’s feeder performance through its online platform, the Electronic Design and Manufacturing International (EDMI) Multidrive Manager.
“The findings from the Commission’s field inspection and the online monitoring platform corroborated customers’ complaints that MainPower had failed to deliver the expected hours of supply as required under the Service-Based Tariff (SBT) regime.
“The SBT framework was introduced to ensure that customers pay for electricity commensurate with the quality and hours of availability of the supply received.
“The public is hereby notified that the Commission has directed MainPower to downgrade all fifty-nine (59) affected feeders, as listed in the Commission’s directive, to their appropriate service bands immediately,” it disclosed.
EERC, however, hinted that upon request by MainPower, it may approve the upgrade of any of the downgraded feeders “once it is verified that the feeder met the threshold of minimum hours of availability in the preceding month in line with the SBT framework.”
Some of the feeders downloaded include: 9th Mile Industrial 11KV, downgraded from Band A to Band C; Abakaliki Road 11KV, downgraded from Band A to Band C; Abakpa 1, 11KV, downgraded from Band A to Band C; Abakpa 2, 11KV, downgraded from Band A to Band C; Abakpa 3, 11KV, downgraded from Band B to Band C; Amorji 11KV, downgraded from Band B to Band D; Nsukka Township, from Band B to D; Presidential, from A to C; UNEC from A to D; University of Nigeria Nsukka from A to D and Government House from A to E.
Other affected areas included Emene, Topland, Ugwuoye, Chime Avenue, Achi, Amechi, Ibagwa, Ugwuogo, Ugwuaji, Okwe, NOWAS, Coca Cola, Coal Camp, Dhamija, and others.
Police Nab ATM Card Fraudsters, Save Them From Angry Mob
Also, in Enugu State, Police operatives attached to the Central Police Station (CPS), on 11 May 2026, about 10:50 a.m., rescued and rearrested two male suspects from an angry mob after they were caught allegedly engaging in ATM debit card swapping and fraud at a commercial bank at Okpara Avenue, Enugu.
In a statement by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Enugu State Command headquarters, Daniel Ndukwe, the police identified the suspects as Onyeka Timothy (aged 34) and Philip Chima Nwankwo (aged 32).
Preliminary investigations, the Command stated, revealed that the suspects allegedly swapped the ATM debit card of a female victim while pretending to assist her in carrying out a transaction at the ATM point.
Smelling a rat, the victim reportedly raised the alarm, leading to the immediate arrest and subsequent lynching of the suspects by an angry mob before detectives swiftly intervened, rescued, and then re-arrested the suspects.
A TVS-brand tricycle allegedly used in carrying out the criminal activity and the victim’s swapped ATM debit card were recovered from the suspects, who confessed to the crime.
They will be arraigned in court once investigations are concluded, the PPRO added.
Ndukwe quoted the State Commissioner of Police (CP) Mamman Giwa as reiterating the Command’s commitment to sustaining efforts against all forms of financial and cyber-related crimes in the State.
Giwa also urged citizens to desist from taking the law into their hands in assaulting suspects, urging that they instead promptly hand them over to the police for lawful investigation and prosecution.
