“The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) yesterday announced that vandals plunged 60 per cent of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) into darkness. This followed the vandals’ removal of the 132kV transmission line and underground cables conveying electricity to the Central Area and its environs.
They did not only destroy cables, they carted away 40 meters of 1x500mm XLPE conductor on the 132KV transmission lines.
The ICIR reports that Millennium Park is a stone’s throw from the Presidential Villa, housing the President, the National Assembly, the Supreme Court and other prominent government institutions” – TCN in a public announcement published in several Nigerian newspapers on Saturday, 18 January, 2025.
I am by no means a lover, or fan of the death penalty, but one day soon Nigeria, not only Abuja and Lagos, will wake up into utter and complete darkness. Avarice, misdemeanours – corruption in general – has so deeply eaten into the Nigerian fabric that while the big ogas are stealing with their biro pens, the supposedly poor, the hoi polloi, probably as agents of the rich, are either vandalising electricity transmission towers, carrying away huge transmission cables, scooping highly inflammable fuel from distressed petrol – bearing tankers to their peril or, in major Nigerian cities, shamelessly removing giant sewage manhole covers with narry a thought to the probable consequences of their heinous crimes.
As things stand in our country today, I haven’t the slightest doubt some Nigerians can attempt to steal daylight itself. That is how rotten – please pardon the language – things have become in our beloved country that one can say, with all the agony, that there was, indeed, a country!
We keep abusing our political leaders whereas, given the opportunity, literally every Nigerian will fail the integrity test. That exactly is how bad things have become in a, once upon a time, land of honour
May God help us.
Please let nobody tell me these are the results of oil subsidy removal or currency floatation because for ages, some Nigerians have deliberately dismantled NEPA infrastructure, carrying away the cables or paving way for generator sellers, while some ensured that our refineries hardly ever worked for any substantial length of time, despite the billions spent on turnaround maintainance.
The Nigerian power sector has been plagued by various challenges, including inadequate infrastructure, little or even negligible generation over the years, as well as inefficient transmission systems, and rampant vandalism among others.
Vandalism has become a major threat to the country’s power infrastructure with transmission towers and other critical installations being literally uprooted in several parts of the country. The consequences are incalculable – power outages, economic losses, even loss of lives.
Vandalism has become so bad the Federal government must now ensure, working with the National Assembly, that our laws are given the needed teeth to deal with these national economic wreckers. It now appears quite obvious that only the death penalty can serve as adequate deterrent to these nihilists. Unfortunately, as we saw in the case of armed robbery, the death penalty will not completely eradicate vandalism but without a scintilla of doubt it will very substantially reduce this new drag on the Nigerian economic development.
Vandalism in the Nigerian power sector is a pervasive problem that has been ongoing for years. Transmission towers, substations, and other critical infrastructure have always been targeted by vandals, resulting in disruption to power supply.
The motivations for these attacks vary, but are mostly driven by a desire for financial gain. Vandals steal critical components such as copper wire and transformers, which they then sell to their collaborators in the black market. It is believed to be used also as a means of extorting money from power companies.
The consequences of vandalism in the power sector are severe and extremely far-reaching. Power outages, which can last for days, weeks or months, will naturally, adversely impact businesses, hospitals, and other critical organisations.
SME’s are usually the worst hit, resulting in stoppage of their operations, and causing significant economic losses.
It is believed that Nigeria loses billions of naira each year due to vandalism-related power outages.
Vandalism, and the attendant power outages also have considerable human cost as they result in increased mortality rates in hospitals where surgeries, as well as the maintainance of critical medical equipments, depend on stable power supply. These are beside the fact that consistent power outages facilitate increased criminalities and insecurity.
It must be noted that government, at various levels, is trying to moderate, if not completely eradicate vandalism in the power sector
For instance, the Electricity and Gas Regulations Commission (NERC) has established rules to prevent, and detect vandalism while the Nigeria Police Force has established a special task force to investigate and prosecute cases of vandalism.
All these, sad to say, have proved so ineffective that the Nigerian national grid has collapsed severally in the past leading to almost zero power, nationally, on many occasions.
As a result of vandalism combined with other reasons like poor infrastructure and paucity of funds, the grid collapsed 12 times in 2024, including on October 16, 2024, when it collapsed twice in 24 hours.
The grid’s frequent collapses have raised concerns about the stability of Nigeria’s power infrastructure to correct which, the government, regulatory bodies, and the power sector need to work together to improve infrastructure, enforce maintenance protocols, and ensure financial viability.
These frequent collapses is the reason one fears that the country may, very soon, experience a sustained period of ZERO POWER, even for days, and we yet won’t hear that any of the fat cats in charge has been fired. It has always been business as usual.
Indeed, current penalties for vandalism, which include fines and imprisonment, are so inadequate they have no capacity to deter any would-be vandal – the reason it is time the National Assembly does its bounden duty of putting in place, appropriate laws to check the terrorism these vandals daily visit on hapless Nigerians.
Needless to say, the lack of effective prosecution, and punishment, for those found guilty has further aggravated the culture of impunity that if things remain as they currently are, Nigerians may not have seen anything yet.
Concluding, the imposition of the death penalty will certainly serve as a strong deterrent to would-be vandals, fully aware that engaging in vandalism could result in the ultimate penalty. It would also reflect the severity of the crime which, as we have shown, can have incalculable economic and human costs.
The imposition of the death penalty would be a strong statement of intent, demonstrating the government’s commitment to protecting critical infrastructure and ensuring reliable supply of power to the citizenry.
