Electricity Distribution Companies have lost equipment worth more than N500 million to electricity equipment vandals in the first ten months of the year, stakeholders in the sector have said.
While the Head, Technical Services of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), Engineer Saidu Abdullahi, told the maiden
National Power Safety Summit held in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom state at the weekend, that his company had spent the sum of N147 million to replace vandalised cables and other ancillary equipment in 2017 so far, the Acting Chief Executive of Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC), Engineer Kingsley Achife disclosed that the DISCO lost more than N100 million to vandals within the first ten months of 2017.
Engineer Accrah Tubokeyi Johnbul, who heads the Yola Electricity Distribution Company also told the gathering that his organisation has lost 35 per cent of its infrastructure to vandalism and Boko Haram activities so far.
Achife, who spoke on the topic “Vandalism: Sabotaging the national power sector;” said that his organisation’s security challenges made it to lose more than N100 million to electricity equipment vandals in the 10 months of 2017.
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He said that vandals target transformers, feeder pillars Transformer oil and conductors, adding that the trend is a global challenge.
According to him, the PHEDC has lost 129 Transformer and 381 metres to theft between January and October 2017.
Chairman of Senate Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, who also addressed the
gathering asked DISCOS to work closely with State Houses of Assembly and the Chief Justices of the States for effective laws and
prosecution of vandals at the State High Courts and the Magistrate courts.
He said that the National Assembly had in 2005 passed the Electricity Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) to create an enabling environment for the operations of DISCOS and GENCOS, adding however that cases of thefts being experienced are issues that can be dealt with by State courts.
He also asked the DISCOS to ensure that their equipment are kept in safe areas, adding that diligent prosecution of cases of theft and
vandalism would deter criminals from going for electrical equipment.
Giving further details of the challenges being faced by electricity companies in the area of vandalism, Achife said that the fact that
power equipment are not easily branded also made it difficult for the Police to help when the vandals struck.
According to him, the fact that some electrical equipment are being recycled into other items coupled with the large-scale government projects provide easy markets to the vandals.
“It is difficult to identify the transformers and it is difficult for the police to help when they don’t know what to look for. Even when we
paint some of these things, they find ways to clean the paints,” he said adding that stakeholders must come together to fight the
opportunistic thieves and organised crime syndicates.
He enumerated a number of measures put in place to deter vandals to include covering underground cables with concrete, installing anti-climbing devices and installation of transformers in busy areas adding that the sector needed laws that would target those who vandalise power assets.
According to him, Nigeria would need some strident laws as they have in Zimbabwe where vandals get a minimum of 10 years jail term for vandalising electricity infrastructure.