02 June 2013, Abuja – The Federal Government is set to tackle the menace of vandalism of power infrastructure in the country, according to the Minister of Power, Prof Chinedu Nebo, the Minister of Power.
This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Ibrahim Haruna, the Deputy Director, Press in the ministry and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Abuja on Friday.
The statement said that the ministry was partnering with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, to ensure the success of the task.
It quoted Nebo as having said this when the Commandant-General of the NSCDC, Dr Ade Abolurin, and his team paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.
The minister added that the ministry would collaborate with all security agencies and other stakeholders to safeguard power infrastructure throughout the country.
He described power as “central and critical” to the Federal Government’s Transformation Agenda, adding that government would not sit back and allow unscrupulous elements to vandalise the equipment.
Nebo observed that successive governments in Nigeria had spent billions of naira to procure power infrastructure, adding that vandalism would derail the planned efforts at ensuring uninterrupted power supply, if not checked.
He stressed that the ministry would leave no stone unturned, in its quest to protect power lines and transformers from the activities of vandals.
Nebo, who said that power lines and transformers were key in the power chain, revealed that the President had committed a lot of resources; both material and financial to the power sector.
He said that the ministry, being the guardian and superintendent of the sector could not afford to fail in providing electricity to Nigerians.
Earlier, the Commandant-General said the NSCDC was conscious of the problems confronting the Ministry in ensuring the security of power equipment in the country.
Abolurin stressed the need for all hands to be on deck to protect the equipment and for the government to succeed in providing uninterrupted electricity supply to the people.
The commander-general, who called for information sharing and surveillance in the course of protecting power equipment, added that the NSCDC had been protecting infrastructure for all the sectors of the economy since its inception.
The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that the NSCDC, formerly known as Lagos Civil Defence Committee, came into being in May 1967 during the Nigerian Civil War,
It was initially meant to sensitise and protect the civil populace within the then Federal Capital Territory of Lagos.
*NAN