The Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, has said it has shelved arresting vandals of power facilities for the sensitization of members of the public against the negative implications of the illegal activities.
Engr Charles Iwuamadi, General Manager of TCN, Benin Region, disclosed this during a sensitisation programme at Umelu community in Benin, Edo State.
Iwuamadi said the organisation is also sensitizing residents on the health implications and dangers of illegal erection of structures under high-tension transmission lines, as well as encroachment.
He added that the demolition of marked structures remained a last resort, noting that the company preferred community sensitisation over arrests and punitive measures.
According to him, “We have a strategic plan to prevent the activities going on in some of these communities, like vandalism of power facilities, erection of structures on high-tension transmission lines and encroachment on the company’s right-of-way.
“Instead of going through the other way of arresting suspects and violators, we are for now temporarily adopting a different strategy of sensitization. It is better we sensitize. When we sensitize, we’ll be on the same page with them.
“And that is why TCN uses its own wisdom to put up this arrangement nationwide that every region should go into a sensitization program rather than going into arresting people and others.
“When people are adequately informed, they will be on the same page with us. And that is the primary purpose of coming to this community to do the sensitization,” he said.
The TCN General Manager, Benin Region, however, attributed vandalism of power facilities as one of the major causes of incessant collapses of the national grid across the country.
He disclosed that in the last five years, vandalism has increased by over 30 per cent, noting that if not for how the company had been managing the system, the number of collapses would have doubled.
“Vandalism is directly proportional to the number of system collapses. A greater number of times when we have grid collapse, it is a result of vandalism,” he added.
While further expressing worries over illegal erection of structures under high-tension transmission lines, he cautioned the residents against encroaching on the company’s right-of-way, stating that by so doing they are exposing themselves to grave safety and health risks.
He opined that transmission towers and lines were national assets that formed part of the interconnected grid moving power from one part of the country to another.
“When a single line is vandalised, the entire network linked to it is destabilised, leading to nationwide outages.
“I want to warn that residents are endangering their lives and those of their families by illegally building under power lines.
“Residing under transmission towers exposes people to high radiation, health hazards, and the danger of instant death if a line snaps and drops.
“Human beings and structures cannot withstand the impact of a 330kV line. It is not only illegal but deadly,” he cautioned.
The TCN boss, however, commended the Umelu community for being one of the most peaceful along the 131-kilometre Benin–Onitsha transmission line, just as he urged them to sustain the cooperation.
Iwuamadi added that the sensitisation programme is part of a nationwide campaign by the TCN to reduce vandalism, protect the national grid, and ensure uninterrupted electricity supply.
On his part, Head of Critical National Assets Unit, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Edo State Command, Deputy Commandant Suleiman Mohammed, posited that communities have a duty to safeguard government infrastructure.
“Any presence of government facilities in your place should be protected.
“When you vandalise it, you deprive yourself. The money the government should use to bring new projects will instead be used to repair the damaged ones,” he said.
Mohammed, who also warned residents against vandalism of power facilities, emphasised that communities with poor records of vandalism might lose future government investments, as authorities preferred safe areas for critical projects.
Speaking at the event, Sunday Aivinhenyer, one of the residents, urged the transmission company to help the community in the upgrade of facilities, particularly connection to the national grid.
Other members, who spoke at the gathering, urged the company to always clear the weeds on the right-of-way as it used to be in the past. They also called for surveillance and monitoring of the facilities by the security agents, assuring the transmission company of the community’s continued cooperation.
