Power minister sets up panel to stop grid attacks

The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has set up a ministerial committee involving security agencies and electricity sector stakeholders to tackle vandalism of power infrastructure, following repeated attacks that have disrupted electricity supply and forced the government to spend billions of naira repairing damaged installations.

The committee is expected to develop a coordinated response to attacks on generation, transmission and distribution assets, with a focus on enforcing existing laws, deploying technology to protect critical infrastructure and preventing further incidents through public sensitisation.

The move comes amid the persistent threat posed by vandals to Nigeria’s fragile electricity network.

In a statement announcing the committee’s formation on Friday, the Ministry of Power said the initiative was part of continuing efforts to guarantee stable and reliable electricity supply to households, businesses and industries.

The committee was constituted in response to attacks on electricity assets across the value chain, which disrupt supply, increase repair costs and undermine investments required to improve the sector.

The statement read, “As part of continuing efforts to guarantee stable and reliable electricity supply for households, businesses and industry, the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has convened a ministerial committee on the prevention of vandalism of power infrastructure. The committee brings together security and power sector stakeholders and is tasked with ending attacks on assets across the electricity value chain.

“The committee was constituted in response to attacks on generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure, which disrupt supply to consumers, increase repair costs and erode the investment on which the sector depends. Its mandate also includes defining the contribution each institution will make toward a lasting solution.”

The ministry said the committee would also define the specific responsibilities of each participating institution to ensure that efforts to protect power infrastructure were coordinated and sustained.

The inaugural meeting was attended by the Special Adviser to the President on Homeland Security, Major General Adeyinka A. Famadewa; directors from the Office of the National Security Adviser; the leadership of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps; the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Power; and directors from the ministry and relevant agencies.

The committee’s work will be aligned with the critical infrastructure unit of the Office of the National Security Adviser, reinforcing the government’s position that protecting electricity assets is a national security priority.

At the meeting, participants proposed measures to prevent vandalism and outlined the responsibilities of their respective offices and agencies.

They resolved to enforce existing laws against vandalism, ensure that offenders were prosecuted, deploy technology to protect national assets and intensify sensitisation and advocacy campaigns to discourage attacks before they occur.

The participants also pledged to work together to bring the menace to an end.

The committee is scheduled to reconvene next week to review progress and assess the implementation of the proposed measures.

The scale of the problem has raised concerns about the cost of repeatedly repairing infrastructure that should be supporting improved electricity delivery. In June 2025, TCN disclosed that 42 vandalism incidents recorded in the first half of the year had affected 178 transmission towers across the country.

The company said the attacks were among the most difficult challenges it faced, with damage recorded across several transmission regions, including Abuja, Bauchi, Enugu, Shiroro, Kano and Port Harcourt.

In January 2025, the then Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, said more than N9bn had been spent restoring vandalised power infrastructure in northern Nigeria in 2024, underscoring the financial burden imposed by the attacks.

Vandalism of transmission infrastructure can affect electricity supply even when power stations are generating electricity because damaged lines and towers restrict the ability of the transmission network to deliver power to distribution companies.

The theft of tower components, conductors, cables and other equipment can also expose installations to further damage and require repairs before affected lines can return to service.

Beyond the immediate cost of replacing stolen or damaged equipment, repeated attacks divert funds and technical resources from network expansion and other improvements intended to increase transmission capacity and reliability.

The latest initiative therefore places emphasis on cooperation between security agencies and power sector institutions, rather than relying solely on repairs after attacks have occurred.

The Ministry of Power said effective implementation should lead to fewer outages caused by attacks on infrastructure, more dependable electricity supply and stronger protection for public and private investment in the sector.