Jos – The Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC), has decried incessant attacks on its facilities by vandals, and called for extra vigilance by security agencies and members of the public.
Mr Joel Sule, its General Manager in charge of Techincal Services, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Sunday in Jos that the attacks had become a daily occurrence and were assuming “alarming and frightening dimensions”.
“The attacks on our facilities, in the four states we cover, get worse by the day; the effect on our services have been massive and we want the security agencies and members of the public to be more vigilant so as to check the trend,” he said.
Sule, who described the trend as “very unfortunate”, regretted that none of the four states covered by JEDC – Plateau, Gombe, Bauchi and Benue – was spared by the vandals, whose activities had often thrown thousands into darkness.
He particularly condemned the recent attack on a major substation at Sparkling Junction in Dadin-Kowa, Jos where the vandals removed the coils and drained all the oil.
“Dadin-Kowa is a vastly populated area, so the effect was both massive and devastating,” he said.
He also recalled that the vandals had earlier attacked the Makeri injection station, in the outskirts of Jos, where they destroyed the facility and carted away cables and many other valuables.
Sule said that the vandals had similarly descended on Langtang’s 2.5 MVA facility in Plateau, and wreaked havoc.
“The 2.5 MVA is very heavy, but the vandals cannibalised it and stole practically every valuable item in it,” he said.
He said that the company had lost materials worth hundreds of millions of naira to the vandals over time.
“The losses cannot be quantified. Besides the direct cost of the items, we have lost revenue, good will from customers and also incurred public anger over the consequent power outages,” he said.
Sule expressed “deep surprise” that someone would opt to remove a facility meant for public use, saying that the poor quantity of mega watts from the national grid was further worsened by the inability to effectively share the little available quantity to customers.
He urged the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), to deploy more men to guard the facilities to minimise the erosion of gains already recorded.
The General Manager also advised members of the public to pay more attention to JEDC facilities, and stressed the need for them to challenge anyone seen around them.
“We must be vigilant and know that it is not everyone we see around JEDC facilities that are staff. Our workers wear Identity cards, move in a group and in an official vehicle. Anyone outside these parameters should be apprehended.”
