IE and NSCDC collaborate to protect electrical installations
Ikeja Electric Plc (IE) has teamed up with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to safeguard its infrastructure in order to provide a steady supply of electricity.
Head of Legal and Regulatory, IE, Babatunde Osadare, praised the organization and police for their assistance in protecting the utility company’s equipment from vandals’ unwholesome activities and carrying out arrests and prosecutions as and when necessary during a meeting with the Lagos State NSCDC Command yesterday.
Osadare told the NSCDC that because vandalism was still on the rise, immediate action was required. He said that the dishonest actions were undermining the company’s attempts to deliver effectively.
The IE representative made a suggestion that prolonged outages would be experienced by the impacted neighborhoods as a result of vandals’ actions. He claims that Ikeja Electric is looking forward to working more closely with law enforcement organizations and neighborhood organizations this year, particularly in regards to vandalism, shady connections, energy theft, and other illegal activities inside its service regions.
In addition to expressing worry about the high frequency of meter by-pass, illegal connection or reconnection, as well as actions that undermine accurate energy accounting and effective service delivery, Osadare said that the business was taking efforts to meter consumers. He noted that because of how serious the problems are, the value chain is deprived of vital money that is necessary to successfully operate the electricity industry.
In a separate speech, IE’s Chief Security Officer, Michael Igbodipe, urged stakeholders to put a stop to racketeers in order to achieve significant results. Igbodipe said that vandalism of power infrastructure was flourishing because there was a ready market for the stolen goods.
While the power company is still working to educate stakeholders, he advised that greater security agency cooperation was needed to track down people who trade in vandalized energy assets, including business entities that serve as the market’s infrastructure and backers.
Igbodipe recommended consumers and community leaders to take responsibility of electrical assets in their areas and guard them from vandalism while reassuring them of IE’s commitment to great customer service.
In response, Edenabu Okoro Eweka, the Lagos State Commandant of NSCDC, thanked the IE team and supported the effort to jealously guard the nation’s electricity infrastructure, stating that one of the corps’ primary responsibilities was to ensure the safety of vital assets throughout the entire nation.
