Electricity woes deepen as vandalism surges across power infrastructure

Despite the efforts of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to achieve nationwide electrification and boost economic development, the nefarious activities of vandals are sabotaging progress, plunging the masses into darkness, reports DARE OLAWIN

The deliberate destruction of power infrastructure, including transmission lines, substations, and distribution equipment, is hindering the country’s ability to provide reliable electricity to its citizens and undermining the government’s initiatives to drive growth and prosperity. As the authorities strive to ‘light up’ Nigeria, the scourge of vandalism poses a significant threat to the realisation of this vision.

The Federal Government said it had succeeded in raising power generation to 5GW from 4GW. However, vandals did not allow Nigerians to enjoy a stable power supply.

In recent times, it appears the vandals now operate with renewed vigour, defying all security arrangements to pull down electricity installations.

For a long time, cases of cable theft, transformer vandalism and similar crimes were rife in various communities. This used to be the major trend of vandalism in the Nigerian electricity supply industry. Unfortunately, this menace has aggravated from cable theft to attacks on power transmission towers.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria has been lamenting over this situation but the vandals seem to be getting more ‘energised’ by the day.

In the past few weeks, no fewer than 20 towers have been pulled down by vandals, whose aims are yet to be unknown. While many believed that those vandals were terrorists, some said they were individuals whose intention was mainly to steal the irons and cable to sell the same as scrap. Whatever the intentions are, the sad reality remains that these vandals have continued to draw back the efforts of the government to ramp up power supply in the country.

In a recent report, the TCN expressed concerns over the alarming rise in vandalism of transmission installations across the country. The TCN spokesperson, Ndidi Mbah, said the growing threat urgently required the cooperation of all citizens, particularly those in host communities, where those installations were located.

Though Mbah said the TCN had consistently engaged security operatives, host communities, and local vigilante groups in response to the issue, it appears the efforts of the security agents are not enough to curb this act.

Between July 1 and August 11, TCN installations were said to have experienced numerous vandalism and widespread attacks in the six weeks, affecting every transmission region of the TCN.

On August 7, security operatives reportedly apprehended vandals in a blue pick-up van loaded with sacks containing tower members and cables stolen from transmission towers along the Damboa/Maiduguri 132KV transmission line. The vandals were arrested by the police from the Damboa Police Station in Borno State.

The TCN spokesperson, Mbah, maintained that the tower members and cables were stolen from the towers along the Damboa/Maiduguri 132kV transmission line, which was still under reconstruction due to a previous vandalism attack on the same line. This is why some have opined that the vandals might be deliberate in keeping the people of this area in darkness.

It was also gathered that on August 11, some persons attacked towers T377, T378, and T379 along the Gombe-Damaturu 330kV transmission line, which is undergoing rapid and urgent repair following another previous vandalism incident involving improvised explosive devices on towers T193 and T194. The use of IEDs might be an indication that this act was carried out by a terrorist group, though no group has claimed responsibility.

Two of the perpetrators of the attacks on towers T377, T378, and T379 along the Gombe-Damaturu 330kV transmission line were killed by hunters at the Damaturu end of the line.

Also, on August 3 and 5, vandals attacked towers along two transmission line routes under the Enugu Region of TCN. The first attack targeted tower T9 on the Apir-Aliede 330kV transmission line, and the second targeted tower T12 on the Apir-Otukpo-Yandev 123kV transmission line, both passing through Ikpayango Village.

In response to the first incident, the local vigilante group was able to prevent the vandals from stealing the skywire after it had been brought down.

“Additionally, on August 5, 2024, vandals managed to cut off and steal the yellow phase conductor from towers T11 to T12 along the Apir-Otukpo-Yandev line, which caused a tripping of the 150MVA power transformer at the Apir Transmission Substation. TCN engineers responded swiftly by removing the remaining conductors on tower T11, allowing the continued supply of bulk electricity to Yandev, Otukpo, and Takum through the 132kV New Haven-Otukpo transmission line,” the TCN said in a statement.

Mbah added that the TCN team had successfully sectionalised the affected towers to facilitate repairs while stabilising both ends of the sectionalised network that supplies power to Otukpo, Yandev, and Takum from the New Haven Substation. She maintained that the 150MVA transformer had been tested and restored.

Similarly, a yet-to-be-identified group of individuals on July 24 struck in the Osogbo Region, vandalising Tower T328 along the 330kV Osogbo-Ganmo line in the Oba-Oke area of Osogbo, Osun State. This incident caused severe structural damage to the tower, leaving it twisted and bent, with insulators at a dangerous angle of 65° to 70°. The damaged and bent tower T328 also affected towers T327 and T329 on either side.

Despite the precarious condition of T328, it was said that the cables remained supported by the bent towers, preventing power outages. The Osogbo Region of TCN had to carry out emergency repair works on the affected towers to prevent their collapse. However, the tower is still awaiting the permanent reconstruction that would gulp a lot of money that could have been used for something else.

“TCN has reported these incidents to security operatives, including the military, the police, the Department of State Services, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps. A visit was also made to the Oba of Oba-Oke to emphasise the need for community collaboration in protecting installations within his domain. Additionally, more local vigilantes have been employed to monitor the facilities,” Mbah explained.

In the Benin Region of TCN, on July 19, Tower T449 at Oluku community along the Ihovbor/Benin 330kV transmission line was reportedly vandalised, with the three legs and supporting members cut off.

On July 25, Tower T72 along the Benin/Egbin 330kV transmission line, also in Oluku Community, Benin, was vandalised, with the four legs of the tower (B6N) also cut off. TCN’s engineers reinforced the tower legs to prevent collapse.

It was added that in the Port Harcourt Region of TCN, vandals attacked Towers T98 and T99 along the Ahoada-Yenagoa 132kV line on July 29, causing them to collapse in the Igbogene Community of Bayelsa State. On August 3, Tower T97 along the same line route also collapsed due to instability from the adjacent collapsed towers, compounded by storm and wind effects, it was stated.

Recently, transmission lines in the North East, under the Bauchi Region of TCN—stretching from the Jos 330kV Transmission Substation to Bauchi, through Gombe, Damaturu, and up to Maiduguri—have suffered multiple vandalism attacks at various points. Additionally, several other less severe acts of vandalism have also occurred.

The Federal Government has reiterated the need for collective action against vandals of power installations of any kind, as the TCN said it remains committed to working with communities, security agencies and vigilantes to safeguard power installations.

The TCN appealed for the support of all Nigerians to curb the attacks on electricity installations. It was observed that only a few arrests were usually made in connection with vandalism. Many said this could be because the act is usually carried out at night.

Also, TCN towers are mostly installed in the bushes and places inaccessible to security agents, especially due to a lack of enabling equipment.

However, another school of thought believed that the security agents were not doing enough to investigate and arrest the culprits.

During a visit to the TCN headquarters recently, the TCN Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Sule Abdulaziz, appealed to the Chairman of the House Committee on Power, Victor Nwokolo and his members to support efforts against vandalism, highlighting that several TCN towers have been vandalized since June, despite the company’s collaboration with security agencies to protect its transmission infrastructure.

The comment from the TCN boss is an indication that the vandals have overwhelmed the security agents.

Alluding to this, Nwokolo wondered how many security agents would be deployed to watch over the towers.

“How many policemen are you going to draft to watch on power lines? It’s not everything that the government can do for us. To the vandals, they should give attention to state-owned infrastructure. It’s only in Nigeria that someone will see a tower and still go and vandalise it.

“Every Nigerian, high and low, must rise up to the occasion and give protection to the infrastructure. We should not sit, fold our arms and watch someone cut off the cables without confronting the fellow and expect to have electricity,” the committee chairman stated, regretting that vandalism remains a major issue in the sector and it has set the power sector back in a huge way.

Recently, the TCN said it would require roughly N1.7tn to complete about 129 ongoing electricity projects nationwide while it needs about N600bn to settle right-of-way claims. Unfortunately, even when these projects are completed, the vandals are on the prowl to throw the money down the drain.

Minister blames cartel

To the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, the individuals behind those attacks on power assets are cartels who did not want the power sector to succeed. This group of people, he alleged, are importers of power generators. Adelabu wondered how ordinary persons could afford IEDs to dismantle towers.

The minister stated that the saboteurs cut off transmission lines, and demolished transmission towers, substations and transformers.

“For about two or three weeks, the entire North East was in darkness, just because they went to bring down all the transmission power lines. What can we do? And we must use our taxpayers’ money to even replace all these,” he worried.

Blaming the so-called cabals and cartels for the attacks on power infrastructure, he stated, “If you make the power sector work in this country, some people will believe that you are snatching their daily bread from them. We have faced these limitations, we have faced these challenges and sabotage in the last year. People do not want the power sector to succeed because it’s a source of livelihood for all of them.

“The majority of the power generator companies all over the world manufacture for Nigeria; 80 to 70 per cent of their sales are from the Nigerian market because of our sheer population and the non-effectiveness of our power sector.

“Let me tell you, I did not want to say this on air, but I think I will mention it. I received threat calls several times. I am the 49th power minister in this country in my 60 years of Nigerian existence. The past administration also had good intentions, but probably they were bullied. They were intimidated,” Adelabu narrated.

He opined that his predecessors were forced to go back to their cocoons.

“Do you think it takes just an ordinary person to go and blow up a power transmission substation with dynamite and sophisticated equipment? Do you think it takes an ordinary person to go and pull down a transmission power line, a 330kV high voltage line, or a 132kV high voltage line? It’s an organised crime. So it’s a cabal, it’s a cartel,” he stressed.

Showing resistance and resilience, Adelabu said he would not be intimidated.

“But let me tell you, we are all Nigerians. We will not run away from ourselves. We will confront ourselves,” the minister declared.

In conclusion, the deliberate destruction of power infrastructure by vandals is a significant threat to Nigeria’s efforts to achieve nationwide electrification and economic development. Despite the government’s efforts to upgrade old infrastructure and increase power generation, the activities of these vandals continue to hinder progress, plunging communities into darkness and undermining the country’s growth.

The TCN has reported numerous incidents of vandalism, and the power minister has blamed cartels and saboteurs for the attacks. The government, security agencies, and citizens need to work together to protect power installations and prevent these criminal activities. The fight against vandalism requires collective action, and only through cooperation and determination can Nigeria overcome this challenge and achieve a stable power network.