The federal government of Nigeria has disclosed plans to set up a security force to be known as ‘Power Rangers’ with the aim of stopping electricity vandalism in the country as well as protect critical electricity infrastructure.
The Nigerian Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, speaking at an interview, said the plan to curb vandalism of electricity assets includes the creation of a Power Rangers security force from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps(NSCDC).
Tunji-Ojo said the plan was conceived in partnership with the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu.
“We have decided with Minister of Power to have what we have called the Power Rangers to have specific officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps”, Tunji-Ojo stated.
He said the creation of the security outfit is already underway with specific NSCDC officers being selected to join.
He further stated that the Power Rangers will be operating in a decentralised manner in all thirty-six states of the Nigerian federation to facilitate easy response to electricity infrastructure vandalism.
Minister Tunji-Ojo said the ‘Power Rangers’ was formed from the success of the Mining Marshals, a security outfit run by the Nigerian Ministry of Solid Minerals with the aim of curbing mining insecurity.
He also stated that to ensure effectiveness of the security outfit, there will be no bureaucracy in the chain of command.
While the Ministry of the Interior will be in charge of their training and remuneration, the Ministry of Power will have operational control.
“The Power Rangers will be under the command of the Minister of Power”, Tunji-Ojo said.
The Minister of the Interior also disclosed plans to create a similar security outfit for the petroleum sector.
Vandalism in the Nigerian electricity
In January, the Transmission Company of Nigeria(TCN) stated that 18 transmission towers were vandalised in the country, all in the space of one week.
One such vandalism incident caused a 15-day blackout in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja.
TCN stated that vandalism incidents pose a significant challenge to their operations citing the strain it poses on grid expansion plans.
In response to the frequent vandalism, the TCN said it has taken measures to ensure the security of the nation’s electricity transmission infrastructure by increasing lines patrol, number of vigilante groups and collaborating with security operatives.
Meanwhile in the petroleum sector, the activities of vandals still stall progress.
For instance, the latest incident being the Buguma wellhead fire explosion which the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said was caused by vandalism.
