APLE cry out as vandals destroy factory road tower line

…appeal to residents to protect power assets

Management of Aba Power Electric Limited, an electricity distribution company (DISCO) in charge of Aba ring fenced area, has decried incessant destruction of power assets in Aba and environs, by unscrupulous elements.

This is following the destruction of Factory Road Tower Line, on January 20, 2025, by unknown persons.

BusinessDay gathered that the affected facility, is a new line meant to serve the industrial cluster in that axis up to Ogbor Hill area with the capacity to carry 21MW of electricity.

A report from the safety department of APLE, which was obtained by BusinessDay, indicated that about 75meters length of conductor on
tubular poles 15 and 16 were vandalised.

According to the report, the criminals cut the conductor at pole 16, which is a suspension pole and pole 15, which is a tension pole. After cutting the conductor, they coiled the silver part of the conductor and left the steal part on the ground.

Read also: Vandals destroy transmission tower to disconnect Yobe, Borno from national grid

BusinessDay also gathered that some parts of the conductor cut, by the criminals were left hanging on the other side of the pole 16 and 17.

Ugo Opiegbe, managing director, APLE, explained that the target commissioning date for the new line was January 24, 2025, which was postponed, because the materials stolen are unique and not easily sourced locally, which is why vandals go all out to steal, even an inch of it, as they make a lot of money from the materials.

He expressed sadness that a lot of costs and manpower go into these projects – overhead lines, transformers, cables, feeder pillars, and numerous other accessories, all of which are destroyed in a few hours, by unconscionable individuals, who also live within.

He explained that the major consequences of vandal attacks are: immediate power cuts, instant death (where the vandals get electrocuted), distraction of APLE staff from other genuine operation and maintenance activities, distortion of budgeted cost of operations, disruption of the network, where they have to find alternative means to ensure customers stay connected, among others.

According to him, these attacks weaken the entire network and impact negatively on the network’s robustness.

“While Aba Power continues in its quest to ensure guaranteed power supply, these attacks constitute serious sabotage on that mandate and our determination to redefine power availability. Without power supply, a city cannot grow. No developed economy is ever powered with generators.

Read also: Again vandals attack Shiroro-Katampe transmission line in Abuja

“We are weakening our capacity and sabotaging our local economy, if we continue to allow these vandals get away with these nefarious activities”, he warned.

He appealed to consumers to show empathy and collective ownership of power assets.

“We should all be looking out for these vandals and report them, using Aba Power “Whistleblower line – 09162788075″, or any other means of contacts we have in Aba Power”.

Opiegbe assured that information and tips will be treated with utmost confidentiality, as the GENCO cannot continue to lose to the thieves, who are bent on throwing Aba (Enyimba City) into darkness, and who have shown no mercy on the staff and the business of Aba Power.

He noted that the wicked acts of these hoodlums, are alien and not the culture of the hardworking business men and women, who toil daily to earn decent living in Aba. “We shall not allow the criminal tendencies of a few bad eggs to define the rest of us.

“We owe it to ourselves to protect ourselves from the negative consequences of these men of the underworld”, he declared .