The Federal Government is stepping up efforts to tackle vandalism of electricity infrastructure through stricter enforcement of existing laws, technology deployment and increased public sensitisation.
The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, announced the measures at the inaugural meeting of the Ministerial Committee on the Prevention of Vandalism of Power Infrastructure in Abuja.
The committee was established to address attacks on electricity generation, transmission and distribution facilities, which disrupt power supply, increase repair costs and threaten investments in the sector.
At the meeting, security and government agencies agreed to strengthen collaboration, ensure offenders are brought to justice and deploy technology to improve the protection of critical power assets.
Participants also identified public awareness and advocacy as essential to preventing vandalism and encouraging communities to protect electricity infrastructure.
The meeting was attended by the Special Adviser to the President on Homeland Security, Major General Adeyinka A. Famadewa; officials of the Office of the National Security Adviser; the leadership of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps; and representatives of the Ministry of Power and its agencies.
The committee’s activities will be aligned with the critical infrastructure unit of the Office of the National Security Adviser, reinforcing the government’s position that the protection of electricity infrastructure is a national security priority.
The committee is expected to reconvene next week to review progress and assess the implementation of the agreed measures.
The minister says the initiative is aimed at reducing vandalism-related outages, improving the reliability of electricity supply and safeguarding public and private investments across the power sector.