Minister of Power Joseph Tegbe has inaugurated a ministerial committee to prevent vandalism of power infrastructure as part of efforts to guarantee stable and reliable electricity supply.
The committee, which brings together security and power sector stakeholders, was mandated to end attacks on assets across the electricity value chain.
According to the Ministry, the committee was constituted in response to attacks on generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure that disrupt supply to consumers, increase repair costs and erode sector investments.
Its mandate includes defining the contribution of each institution toward a lasting solution.
The inaugural meeting in Abuja was attended by Special Adviser to the President on Homeland Security, Major General Adeyinka A Famadewa, directors from the Office of the National Security Adviser, leadership of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Permanent Secretary and directors from the Ministry of Power and its agencies.
The committee’s work will be aligned with the critical infrastructure unit of the Office of the National Security Adviser, reinforcing treatment of power assets as national security priority.
Participants proposed measures to curb vandalism and outlined roles of each office and agency. They resolved to enforce existing laws on vandalism and bring offenders to justice, deploy technology in protecting national assets, and use sensitisation and advocacy to prevent incidents.
All parties pledged to work together to end the menace.
The committee will reconvene next week to review progress, with implementation expected to reduce outages caused by attacks on infrastructure and strengthen protection of public and private investment in power.
