Parts of Rivers State and the whole of Bayelsa State, in the heart of the Niger Delta region, have been plunged into total darkness following the dastardly vandalism of two transmission towers.
The two transmission towers along the Owerri-Ahoada-Yenagoa 132KV Double Circuit Transmission Lines were vandalized on July 27, 2024. It is through this transmission line that power is evacuated to supply electricity to the entire Bayelsa State.
Concerned about the situation, the Bayelsa State Government is collaborating with the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to rectify the problem and restore power supply to the state.
According to the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Power, Engr. Kharin Akari Komuko, who frowned at the high level of destruction, "We are working with all the relevant authorities to fix the problem. We are optimistic that as soon as possible power will be restored to the state".
Komuko's optimism that power will be restored as soon as possible may turn out to be wishful thinking. This is because while the TCN is busy responding to the challenge, the dare-devil vandals on Monday, August 12, destroyed a further 13 transmission towers along the same Owerri-Ahoada-Yenagoa line!
Reacting to the destruction of additional 13 towers, which was first reported by the Youth President of the Ukpeli Community in Rivers State on August 12, 2024,
the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of TCN, Mr Sule Abdulaziz said it was a "national disaster", stressing that the destruction of its installations has become "increasingly alarming and overwhelming".
He further said "the vandalism of the transmission towers poses a serious challenge to the TCN. Out of the 13 vandalized towers, nine towers have collapsed completely, while four are hanging precariously and could collapse at any moment".
As the Transmission Company of Nigeria is battling to restore power supply the people of Bayelsa are groaning under the excruciating pains of the power outage. The Niger Delta Connect had earlier reported that the outage is seriously affecting socio-economic activities in the state, jerking up the cost of goods and services because of the total reliance on fuel to power businesses, especially micro and small businesses.
A young man who simply identified himself as Okuboama said apart from the general discomfort of not having electricity supply to wash and iron clothes, blend pepper and tomatoes and the rest, his biggest concern is not being able to watch the English Premier League (EPL) matches.
According to him, "with the commencement of the EPL, I paid three months subscription on my DStv upfront for compact package at N15,700 monthly. I had to do that so as not to get caught pants down should my subscription elapse at night or on a Sunday when I cannot go to the DStv dealers' office to subscribe. In all I spent N47,100. How do I watch football matches now that there is no light? In addition to bearing the pain of the amount I paid, I have to cough out money to go and watch the EPL matches at commercial viewing centres. It is so sad and painful".
An housewife, Mrs Tolumoye Vivian Pereotubo, who resides at Edepie axis of the state had this to say, "the power outage comes with security implications because of the attendant darkness, giving room to petty thieves and other criminals to operate freely. I normally wash and iron my children's school uniforms but now I wash the uniforms myself but send them to the dry cleaner to iron and that comes at a cost not originally budgeted for".
Continuing, Pereotubo said more painful is the fact that she can no longer buy food stuffs in bulk because of the fear of their going bad in the refrigerator. She said, "as a busy woman I plan my schedule by buying food stuff and cooking what will carry the family for about two weeks and put in the fridge so I don't have to cook every day.
"Last week, all the cooked food in my fridge, costing close to N60,000, went bad and I had to throw them away. With the total reliance on fuel with its exorbitant cost, I have devised a means by putting on my generator for three hours every evening as against the six hours before. I guess powering the generator for just three hours daily was not good enough to keep the food in good shape. That was why the things in the fridge went bad.
"I was so angry but what can I do? Now I have to go through the rigours of cooking for every meal and it is seriously affecting me. The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED), or is it the state government, should do something about the situation, and urgently too, because I am not finding this funny at all".
A barber, Peter, who has his shop adjacent to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Yenagoa gate, , said the situation is unbearable and not good for business at all. He said "as things stand now, fuel is very expensive. Before now, when we sometimes have public power supply, I used to buy N10,000 fuel and it would last for about four days. Now that there is no light at all, the same N10,000 fuel barely last two days, if one has to keep the electricity generating set on, all day. This is not sustainable at all. I am not happy doing this but I have been compelled to increase my price if I must remain in business"
He said the way he managed to maneuver his way around the problem was to buy three cordless clippers in addition to the two regular clippers he had. He now uses only the cordless clippers, which he charges at home at night and therefore has had no need to buy fuel at his barber's shop. The three, fully-charged clippers carry him for the whole business day. He has abandoned the use of the regular clippers, which operates with electricity.
Mrs Timiniebieri Gold is a fashion designer, who has her shop within the precinct of the Civil Servants Quarters, Phase II, Ovom in Yenagoa. She said "The power outage is adversely affecting business. Before now when we used to have light once in a while, I usually spent about six thousand naira weekly on fuel but since the power outage the story has drastically changed. Can you believe that I have spent a total of N34,500=00 on fuel alone in the last eight days! Virtually every naira I make goes into buying fuel and I sincerely do not know how long one can continue this way".
A civil servant, Stanley Imgbi, said the situation is so terrible and discomforting. According to him, because of the power outage you cannot get a cold drink when you need one; you get home from work, you cannot relax and watch your favourite television programmes and when you get to the office, there is no light and everywhere is hot and uncomfortable because not every office has functional generating sets. He even said the situation is so bad that some government offices have to type their documents, including what is supposed to be confidential documents, at business centres.
Continuing, Imgbi said the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) should up their game and come up with urgent measures in fixing the vandalized electricity towers. The Bayelsa State Government can as well fix the Imiringi Gas Turbine as well as establish more gas turbines in the city of Yenagoa and the state at large.
Proprietor of Gbalis Printing Company Ltd, Mr Gbalipre David said his machines are high power-consuming equipment and with the current power outage, they are finding it very difficult to continue to offer their services at the usual price, no thanks to the escalating cost of diesel. According to him, “Before the power outage, we used to spend N50,000 on diesel and we use it for three days but now the same amount can only carry us for a day and half. If the situation is not normalized as soon as possible we may run out of business because there is no way we can continue to spend N50,000 for less than two days. It is not sustainable”.
A student of the University of Abuja, Bibowei Johnson, who resides at the Civil Servants Quarters, Phase I, Ovom in Yenagoa, said the situation is hopeless and the people of the state are helpless because nobody knows when this repair work will be completed.
Continuing, Johnson said, "while waiting for the repair work to be completed, vandalism at transformer level is going on. Transformer vandals and thieves operate only when there is no light. There have been complaints about transformer oil as well as armoured cable theft around the state. This is because there is no light. The vandals won't dare it if there was light. For me, government and all the relevant agencies should just speed up the work so power can be restored and we continue with our lives".
Adding his voice to the vandalism of the transmission towers, the Managing Director of the Bayelsa State Electricity Company Limited, Engr. Olice Kemenanabo, said, “This latest incident underscores the urgent need for the TCN to establish a work centre in Bayelsa, a request we have been making since 2021. Such a facility would enable quicker intervention and response when incidents like this occur.”
There are indications that given the enormity of the damage to the transmission towers and the number of towers involved, repair work, which involves rebuilding and stringing of the towers to restore power supply to the state, can run into several months. While Bayelsans wait helplessly for the restoration of power supply, they will continue to bear the pains and pangs of the power outage.
