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 percent 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.
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 electricity 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 electricity 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.
and then