By Sadiq Abubakar
Maiduguri
Federal government has blamed the prolonged power outage in Borno state on sabotage and the Boko Haram insurgents.
Alhaji Mohammed Wakil, minister of state for power, stated this in a statement signed by his special assistant on media Mr. Olawale Rasheed and made available to journalists in Maiduguri.
According to statement, federal government had made several attempts at restoring the power supply, which was cut off in June 2014 when suspected Boko Haram insurgents attack Gidan Waya village along Damboa, where the Damboa power substation is installed and connects Maiduguri city and Niger Republic.
“The federal ministry of power has repeatedly moved to reconnect Maiduguri to national grid, but insurgency and sabotage have so far delayed the realisation of that goal.
“In the last seven months, when the power lines and substation at Damboa were attacked, the ministry through the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has made at least seven attempts to rectify the problem but on each occasion the officials were attacked”.
“On two occasions, the reconnections were successfully accomplished with parts of Maiduguri enjoying power supply. This was, however, short lived as the lines were again vandalised less than five hours after”.
The statement also said that the development prompted the Ministry of Power to seek assistance from the military towards the reconnection.
“The minister held meetings with military chiefs to request for special security cover which was granted and this led to the latest attempt by the ministry to reconnect the state.
“It was widely reported that the insurgents again attempted to attack the TCN staff but were ambushed by the accompanied military team”.
The statement further stated that: “In that brave defense of the power officials, the military lost an officer and two soldiers with seventy five insurgents killed while many other sustained injuries.”
It explained also that the power lines covered a wide range of area, making it difficult to police. It should be put on record that power lines run several kilometers across the state.
“It is practically impossible to physically police the lines from Damboa to Maiduguri which is also widely known as an insurgency belt”.
The statement however said: It was due to the bravery of our officials and the military that that the Damboa sub-station has been repaired but the power lines remain susceptible to vandalisation.
“The ministry is thus using this medium to alert the public that sabotage and insurgency are two evil mix that is stalling the restoration of power to the state.”
It expressed shock that the blackout had been politicized by some individuals trying to score cheap political points.
According to the statement, there are strong evidences suggesting that some disgruntled forces are deliberately vandalising power lines as a weapon of blackmail against the Federal Government.
“The blackout crisis has thus become politicized with those dark forces deriving joy in stopping power supply to Borno in other to score cheap political points,”.