The federal government has disclosed that Borno State will soon be reconnected to the national power grid.
It said the proposed reconnection came on the heels of an agreement reached between the military and the Federal Ministry of Power on security for engineers, who will repair the vandalised power lines in the troubled state.
The Technical Assistant to the Minister of State for Power, Mr. Umar Mustapha, said the military and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) had reached a final stage on the reconnection of Borno to the national grid.
Mustapha, who heads a Technical Committee set up a month ago by the Minister of State for Power, Mr. Mohammed Wakil, noted that insurgents had vandalised the 132KVA power line from Damboa to Maiduguri, thereby cutting power supply to the state.
He said efforts to reconnect the line to the national grid had been hampered by ongoing insurgency and counter-insurgency in the area.
Mustapha, in a statement issued by the Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Power on Media, Mr. Olawale Rasheed, said several correspondences had been exchanged with the military to ensure the security of engineers who will work on the vandalised power lines.
He said, “The minister is constantly in personal touch with the military authorities in addition to his written directive to the management of TCN to effect the reconnection without delay.
“The military has accepted the request to provide security cover in view of the security challenges in the area which led to the vandalism.
“A team has visited the site of the vandalised power lines and both the TCN and the military will soon swing into action”.
According to the technical assistant, within the ministry, Wakil had issued written and verbal directives that the reconnection be done now that the security situation had improved in the affected areas.
“This directive is been urgently complied with”, he added.
On the exact date of the reconnection, Mustapha said he would not want to disclose the details for operational and security reasons.
Support InfoStride News' Credible Journalism: Only credible journalism can guarantee a fair, accountable and transparent society, including democracy and government. It involves a lot of efforts and money. We need your support. Click here to Donate