The Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) has likened energy theft to a greater societal evil than kidnapping, emphasizing the devastating effects of illegal electricity connections on infrastructure, billing, and power supply.
In a public advisory shared in Pidgin English via its official X (formerly Twitter) handle on Saturday, the company warned residents against bypassing electricity meters, calling the act “not smartness but wickedness.”
“Person wey dey bypass light, worse pass kidnapper. Kidnapper collect ransom once. But person wey dey bypass light dey make all of us pay every day,” BEDC stated.
The distribution company explained that illegal bypasses result in frequent transformer blowouts, unstable electricity, and inflated bills for compliant users.
“Na all of us dey pay for one person crime. Light go dey trip, transformer go blow, and people go dey complain say BEDC no dey do anything,” the company added.
BEDC urged residents to report anyone involved in bypassing meters, stressing that community cooperation is vital to restoring reliable power.
“E no be smartness. Na wickedness. Bypass dey spoil everybody chance to enjoy better power,” the message concluded.
Electricity bypassing, tampering with meters, or diverting power to avoid billing remains widespread in Nigeria. According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), such practices lead to massive revenue losses, overloading of transformers, higher tariffs for honest consumers, and long-term infrastructure damage.
BEDC’s campaign reflects ongoing efforts by Nigeria’s power distributors to crack down on energy theft and rebuild public trust in the national grid system.
