The Transmission Company of Nigeria has announced that it has allocated over N8.8 billion in the last 11 months to repair transmission towers that have been damaged by vandalism across the nation.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Sule Abdulaziz, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), addressed attendees at the quarterly power sector working group meeting held in Abuja.
He said, “Till date, we have spent about N8.8 billion, by our estimation, to put them back to full and functional use.
“It is so sad that each time the vandals were caught and taken to police for prosecution, police would incident them for theft, instead of vandalism and they will be bailed.
“If they are charged for vandalism, they cannot be bailed, but this is where we are. So many of them have been arrested, but each time they will be bailed because police often incident their cases as that of theft.
“When the Shiroro-Mando-Kaduna towers were destroyed, we had to get the full military escorts for our contractors to get the transmission lines and towers restored and in some cases, they would tell us that we could only work for two hours in some days.
“In some instances, they would even tell us that it was not safe to move there. How do we get out of this? How can we deliver electricity to Nigerians under these terrible circumstances?
“These are part of the challenges we are facing in the power sector.”
