Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, on Tuesday, disclosed that the reason electricity supply had not been restored to the North was because terrorists had seized the vandalised transmission line supplying power to the region.
Jibrin said security agencies, under the directive of President Bola Tinubu, were working round the clock to flush out the terrorists, who had taken control of the affected facility.
Major states in the North, including Kaduna, Katsina, Kano and Jigawa, have been without electricity as a result of the vandalism of the 330kv DC transmission line, which takes power to major towns in the North.
Jibrin, who spoke on the matter while presiding over the plenary of the Senate in Abuja, said though the case was very sensitive, it was also appropriate to give senators some update on the efforts being made to normalise the situation.
He stated, “Let me seize the opportunity to inform the Senate that the leadership of the Senate is concerned about the lack of electricity supply in the northern part of this country. This is because the transmission line, which supplies power to the North, has been vandalised. And it has become a problem for the TCN staff to get it restored because that area is being occupied by terrorists.
“Security agencies are working to get to the spot and eradicate or remove the threat that has been there for a while.
“It is an arrangement that will not be said to the public because that would compromise the arrangement or the preparation the security agencies are making to deal with the matter.
“So, the President has ordered and directed the security agencies to do all within their powers to ensure they deal with that threat.
“The National Security Adviser is on top of the issue. We’ve been discussing this with him. I have been talking with the National Security Adviser. I have been talking with the TCN Managing Director.
“The place is being occupied by terrorists who are well-armed to the teeth. So, the security agencies are preparing to strike the area and get that threat out of that place.
On Saturday, the Northern Senators Forum called for urgent intervention by the Federal Government and other stakeholders to restore electricity to the North.
A communiqué it issued after the meeting reads partly, “The ongoing outages, resulting from vandalism and national grid disturbances, have brought economic hardship, compromised healthcare delivery, and imposed expensive fuel costs on citizens.
“The Northern Senators Forum respectfully requests the federal government to expedite and prioritise repairs on the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission lines to restore reliable power supply.”
(Tribune Online)
