… As Benue community foils vandalisation of transmission tower
By ABAH ADAH, Abuja
Federal Government is expected to spend approximately N1.24bn to repair 18 transmission towers that were vandalized across three states in January 2024, AljazirahNigeria checks revealed.
In a press statement earlier in January issued by the General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah Transmission Company of Nigeria ,TCN’s , naming the affected states as Rivers, Abia, and Kano States.
Similarly, on November 27, 2024, the Federal Government had announced that it spent about N8.8bn to repair and put into functional use transmission towers vandalised across the country.
A breakdown of the amount the FG spent on the repairs of the 128 transmission towers revealed that each tower gulped N68,700,000 for their repairs.
Also barring any last-minute changes, further analysis of the amount previously spent on the repairs of the vandalised transmission tower in 2024 has, however, revealed that the repairs of the 18 newly vandalized transmission towers would cost the country N1.24bn at N68,700,000 each.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria ,TCN, had earlier raised the alarm regarding the incidents, which took place between January 9 and 14, 2024, in Rivers, Abia, and Kano States.
The vandalism, according to a statement issued by Ndidi Mbah, the General Manager of Public Affairs for TCN, severely disrupted transmission infrastructure in these regions, causing widespread concern about the growing threat of sabotage to Nigeria’s power sector.
Speaking, a Power Sector Analyst, Barrister Olabode Fadipe, described the vandalization of power towers as a setback for the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry ,NESI, and a huge loss for the country’s economy.
Fadipe, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Sage Consulting Communications, asked the management of TCN to work closely with the security agents to fish out the perpetrators of the act.
He said: “The vandalizing of TCN towers by whomever in any part of Nigeria is a huge setback for NESI & for the economy of the nation. But the continuous occurrence also speaks to the fact that persons saddled with the duty of managing the utility are dropping the ball somewhere.
“The question is if within a space of 5 days, 18 towers were vandalised, what is the number that will be vandalised before the end of the year? I think TCN now needs to intensify its relationship with security agents to fish out the persons who are behind this economic sabotage. The raiding of the second-hand goods market in Abuja recently should be adopted.
“That effort produced huge results with FCT officials discovering manhole covers from the shops in the market. The economic losses are huge. Loss of power supply at TCN level is usually very huge because they deal with a large amount’’.
Meanwhile, Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, says attempted vandalism of its Tower T195 along the Ugwuaji-Makurdi 330kV Transmission Line on Saturday, January 25, 2025 at Watuolo village, Utonkon in Ado Local Government Area of Benue State, led to the arrest of one suspect.
According to a statement signed by the company’s head of Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, the vandalism was thwarted by the vigilant community members, who at about 3: am perceived suspicious activities around the tower and promptly swung into action.
One of the vandals was apprehended while the others escaped, and was handed over to the police, according to the statement.
“TCN commends the people of Watuolo Village for their vigilance and swift action. We equally appeal to communities hosting critical infrastructure to emulate this example and take ownership of protecting transmission installations in their vicinity.
“As we continue to work with security operatives and host communities against vandalism, we continue to appeal for more vigilance by residents in the communities, who we believe are very critical in this fight”, it read in part.
AljazirahNigeria can report that in recent times, vandalism of TCN towers and other installations across the country has been increasingly rampant, to the extent that sabotage is being blamed for the woes in some quarters.
