Blackout in Bayelsa, Rivers as vandals destroy 13 transmission towers

…“Damaging power assets will no longer be business as usual”- Adelabu warns vandals

Rivers and Bayelsa States in the Niger Delta are expected to experience prolonged electricity outages following the destruction of 13 transmission towers by vandals.

This was made known by Ndidi Mbah, the spokesperson for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

These towers are part of the Ahoada-Yenagoa 132kV Double Circuit transmission line.

Mbah said that the incident was reported on August 12, 2024, by the youth president of the Ukpeli Community in Rivers State.

Mbah further said that due to the extensive damage, and considering that work is still ongoing on previously vandalised towers, it could take several months before power is fully restored in the region.

“Thirteen transmission towers on the Ahoada-Yenagoa 132kV Double Circuit line have been vandalised,” Mbah disclosed. “The Youth President of Ukpeli Community in Rivers State initially reported the incident on August 12, 2024.”

Following the report, a team from TCN’s Port Harcourt region, led by general manager of transmission, Emmanuel Akpa, visited the site near the Ahoada Transmission Substation to assess the damage.

They confirmed that 13 towers, numbered from T52 to T64, were affected. Nine of these towers have completely collapsed, while four others are on the brink of falling.

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“Given the severity of the damage and the ongoing repairs to previously vandalised towers, it could be months before the transmission line is fully repaired and power is restored,” TCN added.

An estimated 117 132kv/330kv electricity towers have been vandalised nationwide between January 2022 and February 2024, leaving the country with a multiplier economic loss. According to studies, it costs about N110 million to fix each of the vandalised assets, and a cumulative N12. 8 billion to repair 117 towers.

Meanwhile, Adebayo Adelabu, Minister of Power, has today warned vandals that the ministry is collaborating with the Civil-Military Committee on Energy Security to curb and arrest offenders.

The Minister made this remark on Wednesday, while receiving members of the Civil-Military Committee on Energy Security, in his office, in Abuja.

According to him, issue of vandalism has been a major concern to the Federal Government, particularly on critical national assets, and that the matter is being handled with all the seriousness it deserves.

He said, “This meeting with you today is very important and critical to us all. We must let the vandals know that it will never be business as usual. We all know what these vandals have done to our national assets.

“Daily, they deprived us of providing stable and affordable electricity to homes, industries, and all critical sectors of our economy. That cannot continue and that is what we are determined to achieve.

“As a critical stakeholder, we appreciate your concern and the effort you have put in to help us secure our assets. Let me say here that power is instrumental to all we do, and the protection of its infrastructure should be the greatest concern of all of us as Nigerians”, the Minister said.

He challenged Nigerians to take ownership of such national assets as continuous debasing of such national assets would continue to retard the nation’s development and efforts to provide electricity to Nigerians.

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The Minister said that to demonstrate the commitment of the Federal Government to providing electricity to Nigerians, President Bola Tinubu assented to the legislation to deregulate the power sector, thereby making the sector free of the encumbrances that had hindered its efficient performance.

As part of efforts to improve and build on existing infrastructure, Adelabu disclosed that he has taken measures to discard old structures that successive governments have ignored in addressing the problems with power supply to Nigerians.

“It is shameful for a nation of over 200 million people to still be on 5000 megawatts of electricity at this age. Let me tell you that some of the transformers we are still using today are 64 years old. How do you want such to give you what you desire at this age?

“Those maintaining them do not even understand them again. This is a reflection of the actions and inactions of the past 60 years. We have not done what is right in this sector in the past 60 years and that is what we are correcting now.

“So, President Tinubu desires to move away from this narrative and give Nigerians what they deserve in terms of energy and power supply and that is what we are set to achieve in the ministry now.

We want to eradicate energy poverty among Nigerians. Our focus now is to engender a new energy development for Nigeria that will make electricity available to all Nigerians, where they reside.

“The power sector is a priority to this government and when we get it right here, all other sectors will also get it right”, he said.

The minister commended members of the group for their patriotism, zeal, and commitment to safeguarding the nation’s assets and admonished them to continue in that spirit.

He also promised the ministry’s cooperation and collaboration with them in their assignment. He said the protection of the nation’s assets should be the collective responsibility of all Nigerians.

He intimated to the group the ministry’s mandate and how those mandates would be realised in the new dispensation.

Adelabu also told them that part of the challenges the ministry is facing is the refusal of some Nigerians to pay for the electricity they consume while some others bypass their meters thereby not paying for what they consume.

He described such power theft as not helpful to the transformation that the Federal Government desires in the power sector.