The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has called on the Nigeria Police Force to intensify its crackdown on energy thieves and vandals targeting critical power installations across the country.
The minister made the call during a courtesy visit to the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, where both leaderships agreed on stronger tactical collaboration to protect the national grid.
Speaking on the urgent need to secure energy infrastructure, Tegbe, according to a statement by the police on Wednesday, noted that widespread energy theft and the continuous destruction of electrical equipment remain major obstacles to reliable power supply nationwide.
The statement partly read, “The Minister was accompanied by senior ministry officials, including Mr. Mahmud Mamman, Permanent Secretary; Engr. Mustapha Baba-Umara, Director, Distribution; Engr. Kingsley Eneh, Director, Energy Resources; and Mr. Martins Olajide, Special Assistant to the Honourable Minister.
“Discussions focused on tackling critical security challenges impacting the power sector, specifically the rampant vandalisation of national power infrastructure and widespread energy theft. Tegbe solicited the continued support and tactical collaboration of the Nigeria Police Force to safeguard power assets nationwide, intensify surveillance on critical installations, and clamp down on energy criminals.”
In his response, Inspector-General of Police Disu assured the ministry of the Force’s full readiness to secure national grid infrastructure and bring perpetrators to book.
“Disu reaffirmed the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to safeguarding critical national infrastructure, bolstering energy security, and decisively prosecuting perpetrators of power sector crimes, ” the statement said.
Nigeria’s power sector loses billions of naira annually to energy theft and infrastructure vandalism, destruction of power lines and transformers, leading to frequent national grid collapses and poor power supply.
Hafsoh Isiaq is a graduate of Linguistics. An avid writer committed to creative, high-quality research and news reportage. She has considerable experience in writing and reporting across a variety of platforms including print and online.
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