Vandalisation must stop

The vandalisation of electricity infrastructure is becoming too frequent, with its attendant outage. Last Wednesday, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) announced that armed men invaded the construction site of its ongoing 330/132/33kV transmission substation in Obajana, Kogi State, on the night of November 12, 2024, opened fire indiscriminately and striking the power transformer, resulting in a burst radiator.

In the early hours of Saturday November 9, vandals attacked the 330kV Lokoja – Gwagwalada transmission line 1, with the transmission towers T306, T307, and T308 along line 1 vandalised, disrupting bulk power transmission along the route.

On October 18, TCN reported that two towers along its 330kV Shiroro–Kaduna transmission lines one and two had been vandalised, damaging parts of both transmission lines – towers T133 and tower T 136, with their cables badly damaged at several points. This plunged the North East, North West, and parts of North Central Nigeria into darkness for over eight days.

The most disturbing aspect of the deliberate vandalisation of the power infrastructure, including transmission lines, substations, and distribution equipment is that it is not a recent phenomenon. This year alone, over 20 towers have been pulled down by vandals, who are either terrorists or bandits.

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The Damboa/Maiduguri 132KV, Gombe-Damaturu 330kV, Shiroro – Mando 330kv line, the Jos 330kV and the Ahoada-Yenagoa 132kV transmission lines have been the most vulnerable to constant attacks with parts of tower members, cables and conductors stolen.

For example, on September 21, TCN tower T372, along Gombe -Damaturu-Maiduguri 330 Kilovolt (kV) transmission line was brought down. The Shiroro – Mando 330kv line 1 tripped off on September 9 due to the same sabotage.

On August 2, two transmission towers, T98 and T99 along the Ahoada/Yenagoa 132kV line in the Igbooghene community of Bayelsa were also destroyed. Also on July 29, vandals destroyed 13 towers on the Ahoada-Yenagoa 132kV Double Circuit transmission line.

We believe that the incessant vandalism has persisted due to the failure of government institutions to execute their primary assignments. Perhaps, the main culprit here is the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), a para-military agency established by the 2003 Legislature Act with a mandate to maintain 24 hours surveillance functions over government infrastructures.

The NSCDC 2007 Amendment Act empowers it to arrest with or without warrant, detain, investigate and institute legal proceeding by or in the name of Attorney General of the Federation in accordance with the provision of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria against a person who is reasonably suspected to have committed an offence under the act or is involved in any criminal activity such as vandalisation, among others.

But the establishment of NSCDC has not abetted this menace. In fact, it seems to have become even more pronounced. This may be why some people feel that the agency has left its primary assignment of securing national critical infrastructure to the second-rate aspect – acting as security and bodyguards to top government functionaries and offices/residences in the cities.

We at Daily Trust believe that it is high time the NSCDC, leading other security agencies, executed a new deployment focus to enforce its mandate and ensure that all vandals are apprehended and prosecuted, after all, they are liable to 45 years of jail term. The Corps should return to its core professional duties as a way of improving its standard of performance. Very few arrests have been made that are commensurate with the regularity of the vandalism.

We also call on the government to treat these acts of vandalism as a national security threat since they are deliberate destruction that is hindering the country’s ability to provide reliable electricity to its citizens, thereby undermining the government’s initiatives to drive growth and prosperity. Apprehension of these vandals must be a national priority as there must be an urgent national move to stop these attacks on Nigeria’s electricity installations.

They are impacting negatively on other critical infrastructures such as hospitals, schools, and security installations, exacerbating insecurity, reducing productivity, and limiting economic growth.

Most of the infrastructure is located in the bushes and inaccessible but these vandals operate from communities and the vandalized parts are sometimes sold in the open market. Therefore, we call on the local communities along the routes hosting the power infrastructure to be sensitised on the importance of safeguarding public infrastructure.

Towards this, we call for enlightenment campaigns through various government institutions and agencies. In addition, the spirit of ownership of projects passing through communities should become the norm. In addition, the communities should be beneficiaries of these projects passing through their land.

Also, there should be renewed focus on the men and women who buy the products either as middlemen or end-users. Cutting off the supply chain will help stop the business associated with vandalisation, including scrap dealers.

It is also time for the federal government to consider the implementation of the recent House of Representatives’ resolution which canvassed for urgent deployment of technology-driven surveillance systems, such as drones and CCTV cameras to safeguard transmission lines and other critical power infrastructure nationwide. This is the right way to go.

This incessant vandalism is a growing threat which has made the goal of uninterrupted power supply a mirage. These vandals must be stopped. They should not be allowed to defy the nation’s subsisting security operations and efforts of stakeholders.