The Commissioner for Power and Petroleum Development, Mr Camillus Umoh, has urged Akwa Ibom residents to take ownership of all power infrastructure provided by the government for the overall benefit of citizens.
He warned against any form of vandalism of power infrastructure, as anyone caught will face the full wrath of the law.
Umoh said this in an interview with newsmen in Uyo on Thursday, adding that the Akwa Ibom Government over the years had repositioned itself to ensure the supply of regular electricity to its citizens.
He said that the previous leaders in the State had been futuristic about ensuring regular power supply by establishing the Ibom Power plant.
He added that the Ibom power plant was strategically positioned to supply power to residents of the state without connecting to the national grid.
The commissioner said that apart from ageing infrastructure, vandalism had been a major problem facing power infrastructure in the state.
“As end users, people should be concerned that this property, this asset that is a common patrimony of everybody, what are we doing to show a joint ownership
“That our destinies are co-joined, that if anything affects it, it affects everybody.
“There should be citizens’ participation, citizens co-ownership of the entire power infrastructure.
“A situation where people see an unauthorised person having access to a transformer and they don’t speak out
“Know that when you vandalised, you vandalised yourself, but if there’s is no available market this will be brought to the barest minimum,” Umoh said.
Umoh said that the state government to ensure the protection of power infrastructure had expanded the Ibom community watch to every ward.
According to him, the essence is that all government critical assets that are within the community must be looked after.
He added that they will provide intelligence should anything happen within their communities with a fast response system put in place.
The commissioner commended a community in Uruk Anam that apprehended someone who vandalised their transformer last week.
He said that the case is under investigation and the culprit will be charged in court after the investigation to serve as a deterrent to others.
He said, “As a state, we were very futuristic and intentional about our power anticipation and investment because we know the position of power in the economy of any nation.
“As a state, our state power policy is to give power to the state 24/7 using available technology and with the existing and planned infrastructure.
“To achieve this, there must be citizens participation, citizens co-ownership of the entire power infrastructure.”