WARRI — THE embattled National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), Benin City Distribution Zone, suffered a major setback on Independence Day as rampaging youths at Ekiugbo in Ughelli North local government area of Delta State, vandalized several of its installations, attacked and beat up its workers from the Delta Power Station, Ughelli, for allegedly not providing them with electricity for a community festival.
Policemen have been drafted to the tension-soaked community to ensure that the crisis does not escalate while NEPA officials were said to have fled the area for their dear lives.
Unfortunately, the action of the youths which was condemned by some elders of the community have thrown seven local government areas in Delta State into darkness. The affected councils are Ughelli North, Ughelli South, Ndokwa East, Ndokwa West, Isoko North, Isoko South and Patani.
The attack on NEPA by Ekiugbo youths is coming four days after the Delta State Executive Council carpeted the Authority for the darts thrown at the government for its alleged lackadaisical attitude to the system voltage change over at Sapele.
Two high tension poles, three 11KV poles, three 33KV poles, eight other electricity poles in a section of the town, near the residence of one of the community leaders were vandalized while 600 meters of aluminum conductor were equally removed from the feeder pillar known as Ibru sub-station.
Details of the onslaught against NEPA were sketchy yesterday but Vanguard was reliably informed that Ekiugbo, a quarter in Ughelli North used to have two transformers but one packed up around November, last year, the second one packed up early this year.
The Authority, has, however, been having a running battle with the “aggressive” youths from the community who do not reportedly allow its officials to shed load or share NEPA bills to consumers in the town.
A NEPA source said “they operate the transformers and our network on their own and this is not the first time they are damaging NEPA facilities. We have all along been discussing with their elders but it seems as if the elders are not in control of the youths because when we discuss with them and think that we have reached an agreement, their youths do a different thing all together.
“When they told us that their second transformer had packed up and that we should come and effect repairs, NEPA told them that they were owing us almost N16 million and that the money should be paid to enable us effect repairs but before knew it, they took the transformer somewhere, repaired and energized it on their own one month after without recourse to us. Imagine, this is a government property that they are treating the way they like. The transformer, however, packed up again a week after", he said.
It was learnt that the community wrote NEPA after that informing it of a community festival that was to take place on the 17th of last month and warning it to ensure that power supply was restored to the town.
NEPA on its part contacted the Delta State Police Command, Department of State Security Services and other security agencies. According to our findings, the threat of unpleasant consequences to NEPA was not carried out because of the intervention of the security agencies.
“We were surprised”, the NEPA source added that: “On Friday, last week, that is on Independence Day while the nation was on holiday and our officials from the Delta Power Station, Ughelli, who were on their lawful duty were attacked in a staff vehicle that was conveying them.”
