By Terna Chikpa, Jalingo
Taraba State Government on Thursday, accused the Federal Government of neglecting the North-East region, her economy and the the people’s well-being.
Engineer Naomi Agbu, the state
Commissioner for Energy and Economic Development, made the accusation while briefing journalists in Jalingo over the vandalisation of four transmission 330kV line towers along Jos-Gombe on April, 22, 2024 that has thrown Taraba State into total darkness.
According to the commissioner, the sabotage act has not only jeopardised the reliability of electrical infrastructure in the North-East region but has also resulted in widespread inconvenience and hardship on community, plunging millions into blackout.
Agbu expressed that the lengthy time to respond to the matter, was a show of complete neglect by the federal government to Taraba state and the northeast region.
The Commissioner said, “This economic vandalism of transmission line towers represents a blatant disregard for the well-being and prosperity of our region. These critical components of our electrical grid serve as lifelines, delivering power to homes, businesses, hospitals and essential services. The deliberate destruction of these towers undermines the stability of our electrical system, putting lives and livelihoods at risk.
“This issue is a federal matter and I want to assure you that we are taking this matter very seriously and we have been working tirelessly with the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) to address the situation. We have also contacted the Minister of Power, and we are yet to get positive feedback for the weeks of blackout to a state capital such as Jalingo. the lengthy time to respond to the matter is a show of complete neglect by the federal government to Taraba state and the North-East region
“If there is one thing, we have all learnt in the past few days from the response time to faults and the priority of the heads in the sector, is that the network to the North-East region is vulnerable. The outcry for a robust plan such as the North – East ring circuit as contained in the proposal of TCN expansion plan to connect the North- East to the Southern Nigeria should be implemented by the FGN immediately.
“As some of you may know by now that other states have gotten partial reconnection to electricity supply due to the back feeding of the old TCN 132kV line stretching from Jos via Bauchi, Gombe, Savanah to Yola and Jalingo. The unfortunate reality is that this 132kV line that is to back feed Jalingo was reported to be old with peculiarity of been lengthy and lightly loaded as at today, and hence poses in effect high voltage due to farranti effect at the farthest end of the line in which Taraba state is one of such points. Furthermore, the line is pegged at around 40MW – 48MW which is far below its installed capacity and YEDC is getting around 19MW for Adamawa, Yobe, Borno and Taraba.
“Due to technical constraints in the 132kV network and equipment limitation from the TCN end, if power is to be supplied to Jalingo as it is right now, the probability of damages to infrastructure and accidents is too high. The risk of supplying electricity to Jalingo at this point far outweighs the benefit to our people. As you know, the role of the government is the protection of lives and properties of its people. Our priority is the restoration of electricity supply to affected areas quickly and in a safe manner. The TCN contractor has already been mobilised to site and has commenced reconnection works with his teams.
“In addition to our immediate efforts of monitoring the restoration of electricity supply, YEDC has informed us on the measures that they are implementing to enhance the security and resilience of electrical infrastructure. This includes increasing surveillance and patrols of transmission line corridors, implementing stricter access controls to critical infrastructure sites, and enhancing community engagement to raise awareness.”
