Bayelsa govt on electricity towers’ vandalisation: It’s sabotage of our state’s economy

Bayelsa State Government has described the vandalisation of the electricity power towers, which have thrown the state into darkness, as a sabotage of the state’s economy.

The state has been without electricity supply for several weeks now after vandals destroyed 13 towers on the Ahoada-Yenagoa 132kV Double Circuit transmission line on 29 July.

The Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy in the state, Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai, who commented on the development, said the destruction of the power infrastructure was an “attack on the social and economic wellbeing of the residents of the state and a sabotage on government’s investment drive”.

A statement published on Saturday on the Facebook page of the state’s Ministry of Information, Orientation, and Strategy said Mrs Koku-Obiyai stated this when she visited the site at Igbogene, where the team from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) was working to re-erect two of the towers.

The statement quoted Mrs Koku-Obiyai as saying that those who vandalised the towers did it deliberately to “make life difficult” for state residents. She advised the residents of the area to be vigilant to prevent further attacks on the power infrastructure.

Mrs Koku-Obiyai, according to the statement, expressed optimism that power would be restored soon in the state.

The Managing Director of the Bayelsa Electricity Company Limited, Olice Kemenanabo, who was also present at the site, told reporters that with the activation of the emergency clauses by TCN for the rehabilitation of the towers, power should be restored within five weeks, the statement said.

According to the statement, Mr Kemenanabo expressed regret over residents’ attitude toward government assets, insisting that the only way to ensure that citizens derive lasting benefits from their communities’ amenities is to own and protect such assets.

Vandalised

‘National disaster’

The Managing Director of TCN, Sule Abdulaziz, described the vandalisation of the towers as a “national disaster”.

He urged the governments of Rivers and Bayelsa states to assist TCN in addressing the ongoing vandalism of its installations, which has “become increasingly alarming and overwhelming”.

He said TCN recently responded to the vandalised and subsequent collapse of towers T97 to T99 on the same line route on 29 July, with ongoing work to rebuild the vandalised towers.

“Additionally, a new contract was recently awarded for the reinforcement of towers 19-31 on the Ahoada-Yenagoa line, where tower members had been vandalised and stolen.”