The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) has passionately appealed to its customers to adhere strictly to safety rules and avoid all unsafe acts with electrical installations and wires.

The Head, Communications of EEDC, Mr Emeka Ezeh, made the appeal while speaking with newsmen in Enugu on Monday.

Ezeh attributed most of the electrical mishap to carelessness by customers, who use sub-standard electrical materials for wiring, engage in illegal connections and non-adherence to safety rules.

He, therefore, encouraged customers to always use quality and standard electrical materials as well as engage the services of qualified electrical engineers instead of quacks.

“We are concerned about the safety and well-being of our customers, that is why we always engage in safety awareness and enlightenment at all times,” he said.

While reacting to allegation in some quarters that the company was responsible for the recent fire outbreak at Timber Market, Enugu; Ezeh said that “the assertion is baseless and unfounded as that has not been proven or established”.

“What happened can only be attributed to some of the illegal activities and unsafe acts embarked on by people.

“Such illegal activities included not turning off their machines/appliances after use or when not in use; illegal connection and use of sub-standard electrical materials,” he said.

He further explained that the wood and sawdust, which forms majority of what you find within the market, are all combustible materials, and “once there is a spark on the sawdust, it is bound to burn”.

On the claim that the company had not provided the market with dedicated transformers, Ezeh said that the market had more than enough transformers to power its operations.

“We have two units of 500KVA transformers serving the market; and in year 2016, we also deployed additional 300KVA transformer in the market.

“As it stands now, the capacity of these transformers are not used up. So, the claim that they do not have enough transformers does not hold water,” he said.

The EEDC spokesman, however, noted that “the company is not happy with the unfortunate fire incident that happened at the market”.

“EEDC sympathise with those affected by this mishap. We hope this unfortunate incident does not reoccur,” he added.

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