30 December 2013, Abuja – Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, says sabotage against the nation’s gas-to-power network has assumed a new dimension as vandals were now using dynamites to blow out the pipelines.
He cited the case of the Western gas supply trunk line from Escravos to Warri, stating that it was recently found to have been blown open at various points much beyond what had originally been thought.
“Another one at the Eastern axis at Bokoloma were punctured at many points and it would take the next one month to fix,” Nebo said while appearing before the House of Representatives committee on power.
“The worrisome problem associated with vandalism according informed the convocation of stakeholders’ forum by the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA). This forum brought together all security agencies to tackle the menace, it was resolved that information sharing among all stakeholders is key to fighting vandalism,” the minister further stated.
Vandalism, according to him, has impacted negatively on power supply, slashing overall power output by 22 per cent last month.
The minister said the vandals have injured the nation’s economy so much and called on the lawmakers to enact stiffer penalties against the saboteurs to curb their excesses.
Recounting some of the achievements of his ministry last year, Nebo disclosed that the third Benin-Onitsha 330kV double circuit transmission line have been completed while the 215 megawatts (MW) Kaduna power plant was about 70 per cent into implementation.