- Worsening sabotage, international acts to make life more difficult for Nigerians – Government, TCN
Nigerians have been thrown into panic over a rising wave of vandalism and sabotage of power facilities across the country, saying the surge in the criminal acts might be some underground plot by some individuals to cripple the nation’s power sector.
The development, The Point gathered, is unsettling most power distribution companies and spurring possibility of overstretched expenditure on restoring the vandalised assets.
The development is also having a drawback on the provision of uninterrupted power supply to electricity consumers who are still battling high tariff and poor service provided by the power companies.
While the country has continued to lament the unenthusiastic performance of the power performance and the disconnect of the value since its privatization in 2014, the power distribution companies have expressed disgust over the unsavoury operating environment in Nigeria.
They specifically said that the continuous vandalization of their facilities and the attendant toll on their balance sheets have continued to give them endless nightmares.
Vandals have currently returned to the turf, destroying the facilities of power distribution companies in the country, almost on a weekly basis.
To this end, concerned citizens have called on governments at all levels to intensify efforts in waging war against vandals and other economic saboteurs.
Most recent of these devastating onslaughts on national assets is the vandalisation of a transmission tower located in the Ikeji-Ile area of Osun State.
Ndidi Mbah, the General Manager of Public Affairs for the Transmission Company of Nigeria, disclosed that the tower was vandalised on August 13, 2024, with vital components stolen.
Mbah expressed concern over the escalating threat of vandalism, particularly in communities hosting power installations, highlighting that between July 1 and August 11, 2024, TCN experienced numerous vandalism attacks across all its transmission regions.
She provided several alarming incidents, including an August 7 event where security operatives intercepted vandals in a blue pick-up van loaded with stolen tower components and cables along the Damboa/Maiduguri 132KV transmission line.
The latest victims are many residents of Bayelsa State who have been without electricity supply for several weeks after vandals destroyed 13 towers on the Ahoada-Yenagoa 132kV Double Circuit transmission line on 29 July.
The state Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai, said it was an “attack on the social and economic well-being of the residents of the state and sabotage the government’s investment drive.”
Described by TCN Managing Director, Sule Abdulaziz, as a “national disaster”, those who vandalised the towers, according to Koku-Obiyai, did it deliberately to “make life difficult” for Nigerians.
The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company reported recently that no fewer than 170 incidents of electrical installation vandalism occurred within two years in the South East. According to the company, about 135 of the suspected vandals were arrested and handed over to the police at different stations, out of which over 100 had been charged to court from January 2022 till date.
Similarly, the Benin Electricity Distribution Company lamented that it has lost over 40 transformers to vandalisation in Ekiti State in the last six months.
The Senior Commercial Officer of BEDC in the state, Brown Ilori, expressed concern over the situation while speaking with journalists in Ado-Ekiti.
“We caught one person in the Tinuola area of Ado Ekiti who is not a member of our staff. The matter has been reported to the police. The Regional Head has just handed the suspect over to the police,” Ilori said.
He urged the people and communities to help protect the facilities in their areas to help sustain power delivery, saying, “Our plea is for the communities where transformers are cited to take ownership of the transformers.”
The issue of vandalisation is already leading to a collision course between TCN and some state governors who have expressed displeasure over lingering blackouts in their states.
Recently, the North East Governors’ Forum raised concerns that the region had been neglected, while lambasting TCN over its poor handling of repairs of vandalised transmission towers in the region.
Responding, however, TCN in a statement issued in Abuja by its spokesperson, Ndidi Mbah, stated that while it was trying to complete the reconstruction of four towers that were earlier vandalised in the North East which necessitated the blackout in the region, it discovered that another three had been vandalised.
It also stated that tower number T290, one of the four new towers erected by TCN contractors along the Jos – Gombe 330kV transmission line collapsed during the cable stringing process.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the power sector have said cases of vandalism have contributed in no small measure to the prolonged power outages, leading to disruptions of many businesses, maiming/injury, and loss of lives, particularly of innocent and unsuspecting members of the public.
A public affairs analyst, Andrew Adeyemi called on governments to nip the act in the mud.
He said security agencies should do more than arresting suspects, adding that the persistence in incidents of vandalisation of power equipment has made it an organized crime that may involve some public officials and dealers in electrical appliances.
Adeyemi urged security agencies to beam their investigation to the markets where electrical equipment are sold, adding that investigation of suspects should be deep and thorough so as to unravel those behind the sabotage.
“It is disturbing to note that year in, year out, cases of vandalisation of power equipment such as transmission towers, transformers, feeder lines and other facilities have not rescinded. This is a very bad omen to our power sector. I see this sabotage as an organized effort by some highly placed individuals to cripple the nation’s power sector for their selfish business gains.
“Our government and security agencies should brace up and ensure that the suspects are not only arrested and arraigned, they should thoroughly ensure that they extract useful information that would lead to the arrest of the cabal behind this incessant vandalism.
“Many businesses have crumbled because of this vandals’ menace and this monumental loss cannot be tolerated. We are paying very highly for electricity already and we cannot be compounded with more tariffs just for power distributors and managers to be fixing vandalised facilities,” he said.
