Supervisory Counselor arrested over attack on PHCN workers

Emeka Ibemere

 Supervisory Counselor for Labour in Ikotun Council of Alimosho Area in Lagos State has been arrested by the local policemen from Ikotun Division for allegedly taking laws into his hands and attacked local electricity workers.

Daily Newswatch gathered that the suspect hired 30 miscreants to attack local electricity workers on Abaranje Road at Custom bus stop on the morning of Thursday, 25 April 2013, forcing the officers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), in the area to close work.

A senior staff of the organization said the man; a supervisory counselor for Labour stormed the office of the PHCN with 30 miscreants and armed to the teeth attacked the staffers of the organization in military style.

 It was gathered that by the time the attackers left the office, over 12 workers had sustain several degrees of injuries, including a policeman who came for their rescue.  Clutching machetes and broken bottles; the rag-tag ‘area boys’ as they are fondly called in Lagos, stormed the working place of the electric workers and left their victims in pains with machete cuts.

The counselor, nick-namely known as Arizona was said to owe PHCN of over N25, 000 bills and that his light was cut by the PHCN workers on debt drive but that the man illegally reconnect ted his light back without having to pay PHCN. However, when the PHCN revisited the residential house of the counselor next week, they equally cut the light the second time and took the wires.

On returning back to his house and seeing that the light had been cut off again, he hired his thugs in Ikotun and yesterday morning, stormed the Abaranje office of the PHCN and allegedly attacked them with dangerous weapons.

It was gathered that the glass Almaco windows and doors of the office were smashed and their chairs broken into pieces before disappearing into thin air.

When contacted, the Divisional Police Officer DPO, in Ikotun was not on seat to confirm the incident but a woman police on the desk confirmed the incident but requested not to mention her name in the story.

She said the counselor has been arrested while his thugs are on the run. According to her, the injured policeman is receiving treatment in an undisclosed private hospital in Ikotun.

She said the counselor would be prosecuted for attacking a policeman on duty and for allegedly destroying PHCN office while causing harmful injuries on government workers who were carrying out their national responsibility.