Vandals plunge Bayelsa’s capital city into 3-month power outage
[From CHRIS EZE, Yenagoa]
Bayelsa Commissioner for Power Ebitei Tonyon, Tuesday, explained that the public power outage currently experienced by residents in some parts of the state capital, Yenagoa is as a result of the activities of vandals.
He said the blackout in the affected areas, which started about two weeks ago may last up to three months following the vandalization of two electric towers along the Tombia-Amassoma Road.
Speaking in a live radio interview program, the commissioner said the vandals reportedly pulled down the towers after removing their bolts at the base.
According to him, the areas thrown into darkness as a result of the vandalism include, Igbogene, Edepie, Akenfa, Okutukutu, Opolo-Epie, Biogbolo-Epie, Obogoro, Amarata and Swali, among other parts of the metropolis.
He said the vandalized infrastructure carried two power feeders that supply electricity to the affected areas from the state’s transmission centre.
“Why we are experiencing this blackout this recent time is that I got a call last Monday that two towers have been pulled down in Tombia-Amassoma Road (now called Airport Road). So, I immediately went for an inspection with my team and Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company staff.
“We discovered that two heavy towers have been pulled down; they (the vandals) loosed the bolts gradually, not only one day, until the towers fell down.
“Now the two towers that fell are the ones that take light from Ahoada to our transmission station. So feeder one and feeder two are totally down on the ground.
“So the whole of Imiringi Road, Tombia-Amassoma Road down to Igbogene; from Edepie down to Igbogene and parts of Etegwe-Edepie roundabout to Isaac Boro Expressway, down to Swali and Obogoro, and some areas like Amarata, Biogbolo-Epie are not going to have electricity until the two towers are replaced.”
The commissioner, however, said his ministry was coordinating meetings with PHED officials and other stakeholders to resolve the problem.
When asked how long the residents would wait before the destroyed towers could be fixed, Tonyon said “it might take three months.”
