Residents of the Aba Ringfence, covering nine of the 17 local government areas (LGAs) in Abia State, experienced their first power outage in over a month this past weekend.
The outage broke a 31-day streak of consistent electricity supply, which had been uninterrupted since December 17, 2024. The disruption comes after a series of unfortunate events involving the attack on gas pipelines that provide fuel for power generation.
Ugo Opiegbe, the Managing Director of Aba Power, confirmed the power interruption, offering an apology to customers for the inconvenience caused. He expressed regret over the loss of electricity supply from Heirs Energies, which had been working in partnership with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
In a statement made to journalists during a phone interview, Opiegbe said, “We deeply apologise to our numerous customers who have been enjoying ceaseless supplies since December 17, the first set of electricity consumers to enjoy such service in Nigeria in several years.”
While Opiegbe refrained from directly revealing the cause of the gas supply stoppage from Heirs Energies, reliable sources pointed to vandalism as the root cause. It was reported that vandals, likely in search of crude oil and petroleum products to steal, targeted the Eastern Gas Network over the weekend.
This attack severely disrupted the gas supply to the power plant in the Aba area. One source noted that the gas and oil pipelines are often installed together, making it difficult for thieves to distinguish between the two.
The frequency of attacks on vital public infrastructure, including telecommunication, electricity, and petroleum facilities, has been on the rise in Nigeria.
Recently, even the Nigerian Presidential Complex in Abuja fell victim to such an attack, when thieves sabotaged transmission facilities, plunging the State House into darkness.
Despite the challenges posed by the gas supply disruption, Opiegbe reassured customers that efforts were underway to restore service. He noted that while gas supplies had been interrupted, some parts of the Aba Ringfence were still receiving electricity, thanks to a quick switch to the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) for backup power.
He said: “We quickly switched to the Niger Delta Delta Power Holding Company (NGPHC) for a quick fix because we don’t want our cherished customers, who have been expressing satisfaction with our service since December, to be without power”, he explained.
“The problem we are having is that not all of them are benefitting from the NDPHC supplies because the supplies are limited. We will not rest until consumers in all the nine LGAs in our coverage area begin to enjoy uninterrupted electricity once again.A”
