‘Well-armed’ terrorists preventing Nigeria from resolving electricity crisis in the North – Senator

‘Well-armed’ terrorists are occupying strategic places around the source of damaged power transmission cables that have caused blackouts in many northern Nigerian states for over a week, a senator said. Their presence has, therefore, prevented urgently needed repairs from being executed, Barau Jibrin, deputy senate president, added.

Mr Jibrin, who said he has been in constant communication with the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), briefed his colleagues in the Senate on Tuesday.

He said the TCN is working with the NSA and security agencies to restore electricity supply to affected states.

Last week, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said its Shiroro-Mando transmission line was vandalised, causing a power outage in about 17 of the 19 northern states.

PREMIUM TIMES reports that some of the places where the damage occurred are communities where terrorists operate. The terrorists, locally called bandits, routinely kill and kidnap residents and travellers in such communities.

It is not clear if the terrorists deliberately sabotaged the transmission facilities.

Aside from vandalism of transmission lines, poor maintenance of electricity infrastructure has been one of the major causes of poor power supply in the country.

On Monday, PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, said he had briefed President Bola Tinubu about the cause of the problem and proposed the construction of localised solar plants as a long-term solution to the challenges of electricity in the north.

Striking the Terrorists

During the Senate plenary, Mr Jibrin said the terrorists have to be dealt with before the repairs are carried out.

He said the security agencies are preparing to strike their hideouts.

“The National Security Adviser is on top of the issue. We have been discussing it with him personally. I have been talking with the National Security Adviser. I have been talking with the TCN Managing Director.

“They are very ready to go there, but the fact is that the place has been occupied by terrorists that are well-armed, well-armed to the teeth. And so the security agencies are preparing to strike the area and get that threat off that place,” he said.

Mr Jibrin noted that there is proper coordination between the NSA and TCN management to resolve the electricity issues.

“But it’s not something we need to say because that would compromise their preparation to deal with the threat. So as we speak, all hands are on deck to deal with the situation. I just feel it’s proper I inform this whole sitting of what is happening.

“We’re in contact with them. We’re in touch with them, and we’re discussing with both the TCN and the NSA office,” Mr Jibrin added.

Compromise

Mr Jibrin said the government does not want to divulge details of its operations to prevent the security agencies’ plans from being compromised.

“Now what has been done now is that the security agencies are putting their hands together to get to that spot and try to eradicate or take away the threat that has been there for quite a while.

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“And it’s an arrangement that is not something that will be said to the public because that would compromise the arrangement or the preparation the security agencies are going to deal with the matter. So as we speak, the president has ordered and directed that the security agencies should do all within their powers to make sure that they deal with that threat.”