TCN Seeks Special Courts To Fast-Track Power Vandalism Cases

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has called for the establishment of special courts or designation of magistrates to handle cases of energy infrastructure sabotage.

It argued that speedy trials and convictions are needed to curb the rising vandalism of transmission assets.

The Executive Director, Transmission Service Provider (TSP), Engr. Oluwagbenga Ajiboye, made the call on Thursday at the opening of a three-day workshop for energy correspondents in Keffi, Nasarawa State.

The workshop was themed: “Assessing the Impact and Challenges of Transmission Network in Nigeria”.

Ajiboye said dedicated courts would ensure that suspects arrested for vandalising transmission infrastructure were prosecuted and punished without unnecessary delays.

In a paper titled, “TCN Milestones and Challenges in Nigeria’s Power Sector,” Ajiboye expressed concern that suspects were often charged with ordinary theft rather than offences reflecting the severity of attacks on critical national infrastructure.

“The police only charge suspects for theft, and the court will release them by the following day. There are no laid-down consequences specified for vandalism of transmission towers and lines. That is why the act continues,” he said.

He said several transmission towers across the North Central, North West and South East had been vandalised in the last 12 months, with conductors, tower members and bolts removed and carted away.

According to him, each incident costs millions of naira to repair and often results in prolonged power outages affecting communities, industries and hospitals.

Ajiboye said repairs could take weeks in some cases because of the difficulty of accessing remote tower locations and procuring specialised materials.

He lamented that investigations into such cases were often incomplete, with little effort to identify the buyers of vandalised materials or those sponsoring the attacks.

The ED said field teams sometimes handed suspects and exhibits to the police, only to discover later that the suspects had been granted bail or that case files could not be traced.

He stressed that the problem went beyond the financial cost of repairing damaged infrastructure, arguing that weak prosecution undermined deterrence.

“When someone destroys a 330kV tower that supplies power to five states, and the only charge is theft of scrap metal, then released on bail the next day, what deterrence exists?” he queried.

Ajiboye disclosed that TCN management had repeatedly engaged the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Ministry of Justice on the need for a special framework for prosecuting power infrastructure crimes.

He urged the Federal Government to introduce stiffer penalties for vandalism of transmission assets, similar to existing laws protecting other critical infrastructure such as oil pipelines and railway facilities.

He also called for stronger collaboration among the police, judiciary, security agencies, traditional rulers and communities to protect transmission corridors.

According to him, TCN has deployed surveillance teams and is working with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to secure vulnerable towers, but stressed that effective legal enforcement remained crucial.

“We cannot continue to invest billions in rebuilding towers only for them to be pulled down again because the legal system treats it as petty crime,” he said.

Ajiboye reaffirmed TCN’s commitment to expanding and rehabilitating the national grid, but warned that persistent vandalism and weak enforcement could continue to undermine progress in the power sector.

“The grid belongs to Nigerians. Protecting it must go beyond TCN. We need the police, the judiciary and the communities to treat this as what it is: an attack on national development,” he said.