By Etuka Sunday with agency report
The Federal Government has announced the reconnection of Borno State to the national electricity grid by the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
The Minister of State for Power, Mr. Mohammed Wakil, had on Monday issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the TCN to reconnect the state to the grid despite the challenges of insecurity and sabotage.
About seven months ago, insurgents in the state vandalised power lines supplying electricity to the capital, Maiduguri.
Efforts to reconnect the state to the grid had been thwarted by repeated vandalism and attacks on officials of the TCN by the Boko Haram insurgents.
A statement from the Federal Ministry of Power on Wednesday stated that Maiduguri was reconnected on Monday afternoon.
It stated that officials of the power distribution company responsible for the state as well as engineers from the TCN embarked on checks and reviews to ensure that the restored electricity was sustained across the state.
Wakil apologised to the people of the state for the prolong blackout, stating, “The last seven months have been a very painful period. We have experienced great pains in several attempts to restore electricity to the state.
“A combination of insurgency and sabotage caused the problem in the first place and kept the state in severe blackout for so long. I apologise to our people for the long delay in reconnecting the state. This administration will ensure that this does not happen again”, he stated.
“I want to inform our people that the President has ordered the opening of two other new sources of power supply to Borno State. We have complied with this presidential directive and in due course, Borno will have three sources of power supply.”
Wakil further stated that the President had directed that the ongoing federal power projects in the state be hastened up in order to expand supply and reduce incidences of vandalism to the barest minimum.
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