In its bid to ensure adequate protection of power intallations against vandalism, Kano Electricity Distribution Company, (KEDCO) on Wednesday convoked stakeholders meeting with security agencies and representatives of Local Government Councils in Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states.
A communique raised after the meeting and signed by KEDCO’s Managing Director, Dr. Jamilu Ishyaku Gwamna noted that the motive of the meeting was to fight vandalism and ensure improved power supply.
Top security agencies from Wards and Local Government Areas, including chairman of Local Government Areas and their representatives all vouched to work in partnership with KEDCO to ensure protection of power installations within their localities.
The Communique charged security agencies, transformer committee chairmen as well as local government chairmen and members of the communities to safeguard equipment from vandalization.
The communique noted that, “collaboration with local government administrators and the police will improve sustainable power supply.
“KEDCO should should organise sensitization engagement for transformer committee chairmen across the coverage areas. The committee should have members from literate class within the community.
“NSCDC and KEDCO to take extra careful steps while distributing the supply during raining season, because vandals normally take advantage of outage during raining season.
“Local government administrators advice KEDCO to support communities with gadgets and mobility to track vandals especially during raining season.
“There is the need for community policing as a tool for reducing the rampant cases of vandalism and other illegal activities hindering the growth of power sector.
“For sustainable collaboration there is need for all the regional managers to partner with regional security officers to visit all the DPOs in their areas of operations, this will drastically reduce illegal activities in the network and improve efficient power distribution.
“KEDCO request local government chairmen to assist KEDCO in discouraging people from building under high tension as well as to stop allocating land under high tension. This is because it has both regulatory and health implications to members of the communities.
“KEDCO calls for the cooperation of all participants in achieving the whistle blower policy designed to address power theft and illegal activities in the network.”
