The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has convened a ministerial committee to prevent vandalism of power infrastructure as part of efforts to ensure a stable, reliable electricity supply for households, businesses and industry.
The committee, which brings together security and power sector stakeholders, is tasked with ending attacks on assets across the electricity value chain.
The committee was constituted in response to attacks on generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure, which disrupt supply to consumers, increase repair costs, and erode the investment the sector depends on.
Its mandate also includes defining the contribution each institution will make toward a lasting solution.
The inaugural meeting, held in Abuja, was attended by the Special Adviser to the President on Homeland Security, Major General Adeyinka A. Famadewa (rtd), directors from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the leadership of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Power and directors from the ministry and relevant agencies under the ministry.
The committee’s work will be aligned with the critical infrastructure unit of ONSA, reinforcing the treatment of power assets as a national security priority.
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Participants at the meeting proposed measures to curb vandalism and outlined the role each office and agency will play.
They resolved to enforce existing laws on vandalism and bring offenders to justice, to deploy technology in protecting national assets, and to use sensitisation and advocacy to prevent incidents before they occur. All parties pledged to work together to bring the menace to an end.
The committee will reconvene next week to review progress.
The ministry’s effective implementation should translate into fewer outages caused by attacks on infrastructure and a more dependable supply, and should strengthen the protection of public and private investment in the power sector.
Vandalism of transmission infrastructure has remained one of the biggest threats to Nigeria’s power sector.
