The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has solicited stronger collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to safeguard the country’s power infrastructure, citing rising vandalism as a major threat to electricity supply.
Mr Tegbe made the request on Tuesday during a courtesy visit to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Tunji Disu, at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.
The minister was accompanied by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry and other senior management officials, according to a statement by his Special Adviser on Strategic Communication and Media Relations, Adeola Adelabu.
Vandalism identified as major threat
Speaking at the meeting, Mr Tegbe commended the performance of the Police under the present administration.
He identified the vandalisation of power infrastructure as a major threat to the sector, and called for intensified surveillance of critical installations.
He also urged sustained collaboration between the ministry and the police to ensure the protection of assets across the power value chain.
In recent years, power infrastructure across Nigeria has suffered repeated attacks. Transmission towers, transformers and substations are frequently targeted by vandals, resulting in widespread outages and huge financial losses for the sector and consumers.
In his response, Mr Disu thanked the minister for the visit, saying such courtesy calls are a delight to the Nigerian Police Force.
He reaffirmed the commitment of the Force to safeguarding critical national infrastructure including power assets, bolstering energy security, and prosecuting vandals and other perpetrators of power-sector related crimes.
He expressed willingness to work with the ministry’s leadership to set up a task force on the protection of power infrastructure.
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Mr Disu further assured the minister of the Police Force’s full cooperation and protection, given the critical and attack-prone nature of power sector assets and personnel.
“The engagement reflects the ministry’s ongoing drive to secure the reliability of Nigeria’s power supply through stronger inter-agency collaboration in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” the statement said.
