Concerns are mounting that vandalism, illegal mining and other unlawful activities around power installations may plunge the South-East region into darkness with attendant economic losses if a deliberate effort is not made urgently to check the rising trend, LAWRENCE NJOKU reports.

Last month, a power substation constructed at Okigwe to improve electricity around Okigwe and Orlu senatorial zones of Imo State was ripped open by vandals, who stole everything inside it.

The Guardian gathered that the vandalised substation valued at over N20 billion was awaiting energisation after 90 per cent of the job had been completed. The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Enugu Region, which raised the alarm, stated that the development had frustrated its power improvement initiative in the area.

Okigwe, which is the Headquarters of Imo North Senatorial Zone, has been without electricity for over 15 years following a series of vandalism and abandonment of power plants. If the recent vandalism had not occurred, it probably could have made a difference in the lives of residents of the ancient town.

In January this year, the Udemezue 11kV Feeder was vandalised. This disrupted supplies for several weeks in public and private institutions in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.

Also, in August last year, the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) had come up with a report that no fewer than 170 incidents of electrical installations were vandalised within two years in the South-East, explaining that about 135 of the suspected vandals were arrested and handed over to the police.

It also raised concerns that unless something was done fast to curb incessant illegal mining and vandalism, those who engaged in the activities would continue to sabotage the overall interests of the country.

In many locations in the South-East, there are concerns over threats to transmission towers, following the activities of illegal miners and vandals.

While vandals attack and cart away power installations, making it difficult for the realisation of a stable power supply in the region, investigations also show that miners are busy excavating sand and laterite around these towers, even as structures and business concerns continue to crop up around many areas without observing stipulated setback laws.

A visit to some transmission towers at the Centenary City area of Enugu State indicates looming danger as illegal miners have excavated sand at such a level that threatens some transmission towers that convey electricity to the region and other parts of the country.

They have excavated the base of some high-voltage towers, thereby exposing them to the risk of failing during storms or cloudbursts. In one of the places, an excavator, which had been used to mine sand and laterite dangerously close to the towers, was sighted.

Along the right of way, a woman who was making local snacks, admitted being warned severally on the dangers of doing business under a high-tension installation, “but I am still here because some revenue officials still collect money from me daily for using the space.”

While the illegal miners are ‘feasting’ on available sand at the Centenary City area, there is also the threat of erosion on some power installations around the Ninth Mile axis of Enugu, and Okigwe in Imo State.

Worried about the development, the General Manager, Enugu Region of TCN, Dr Thomas Inugonum, said that this growing incidence poses a threat to the stability of the national electricity grid.

He referred to the recent incident that plunged the northern part of the country into darkness for months, stressing that such was bound to happen in the South-East if something was not done to stop untoward practices being carried out daily around power installations.

Inugonum told The Guardian that the continued vandalism and illegal excavation of sand and laterite around transmission towers could lead to catastrophic grid collapses, adding that the grid would remain vulnerable due to the imminent collapse of weakened towers and transmission lines.

While expressing disappointment that even the stone pitching meant to protect the tower bases had been removed, he added: “Along the right of way of a very important transmission line, where Enugu region receives power from Ikot Ekpene, Port Harcourt region, mining is going on there. There are two lines from here now and the four lines from Ugwuaji to Ikot Ekpene.

“On the left, we have the New Haven-Onitsha power line. But that corridor or right of way is already threatened by the land that they are mining. You can see the way they’re excavating sand everywhere up to the base of our towers. All of them are like this. So, it is a threat to the line that even takes power to the North.

“In the other one, people excavated and even removed the stone pitching around the right of way on the base of the tower. This is really disheartening. In fact, I’m really disappointed and disturbed. I don’t know how we’re going to continue with this type of problem. So, we really want the state government to assist us.

“Let there be security along this right of way. The infrastructure has been handed over to them for safeguards. They should come here to patrol the line because if it happens now, there will be no light in the entire North.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do now because the excavation is too much. The consequence is that whenever there’s a heavy wind or thunderstorm, it strikes these towers and the earth can no longer hold them, thereby forcing them to collapse. There is an outage in that region whenever that happens. It is against the law that the infrastructure that has been erected by the government should be destabilised by people,” Inugonum stated.

At a public discussion held recently on the need for the protection and preservation of public infrastructure, a finance expert, Dr David Onuoha, had stated that collusion and abuse had encouraged certain negative activities on public infrastructure.

Speaking specifically on power installations, he noted that there cannot be illegal mining around the facilities without the collusion of community leaders, stressing that, “these miners work through the communities who collect money and look the other way when illegal activities commence.”

He continued: “That is why somebody could move an excavator into farmland to scoop sand up to a public installation without anybody asking questions. We need to cultivate the habit of owning whatever public installation the government has brought into our domain. If your greed destroys these things, you will return tomorrow to regret your action.”

Onuoha added that billions of naira were not only spent to restore damaged power installations, but revenues that accrued from them should have been channelled to other developmental projects are also not going in that direction.

A Public Affairs Analyst, Gregory Igwebuike, while agreeing with him, however, stressed the need for increased awareness of the dangers inherent in mining along high tension installations or doing business under them.

“Most people don’t understand the danger that they face toying with such installations. This is why it is clearly spelt out that people must observe standard setbacks while doing anything along power lines. It is unfortunate that in our quest to make money, we now neglect things that could ensure that we don’t live to enjoy the said money.

“Again, it is economic sabotage for people to willfully destroy things that could jeopardise the country’s economic development. If those caught are met with the right sanctions, it would help check the trend,” Igwebuike added.

He, however, called on the government to rise to its duties of protecting critical infrastructure, stressing that relevant organs to check and regulate the environment should be activated.

Inugonum, while itemising efforts made to curb vandalism in the Enugu region, stated that part of the measures was to ensure the energisation of completed power installations across the country.

He said: “At Ninth Mile, we had to energise the installation there by all means to avoid a repeat of what happened at Okigwe. In Okigwe, we had a fully completed power substation, awaiting energisation. But it was ripped open by vandals. Everything was taken. As we speak now, you can’t get anything useful from that substation. Everything has been stolen. And that’s a station that was almost 90 per cent complete.

“As at that time it was vandalised, the government had spent over N2.8 billion on it. Now, you can’t build that station with anything less than N20 billion. That’s to show you why I don’t want the substations in Ninth Mile, Enugu, and Amasiri, in Ebonyi State, to face a similar problem of vandalism.”

The Ninth Mile power station is among the 21 power projects awarded by the federal government in the South-East region in 2019 to boost economic activities, but the project suffered sabotage and faced litigation from the residents

Although sources had attributed the delay in energising the project to an alleged entitlement disagreement between the host community and the contractors that handled the project, a security consultant, George Mbakwe, urged the government to carry communities along when citing critical infrastructure.

Mbakwe, who is the Executive Director of a private security firm, Sentinel Holdings, stated that disagreements often arose in the cause of executing projects “because the communities that are supposed to host it are not involved,” adding that, “carrying them along would help protect such facilities against theft or harm.”

While decrying the spate of mining around power installations, he said that they have continued to occur due to a lack of security.

“If there is security in place, there is no way a person can violate the right of way or tamper with the installations. Before now, there used to be security patrols along major installations. People have cashed in on the fact that it is no longer there to scoop sand and vandalise power plants. We should find a means to improve security and protect critical infrastructure,” he added