Blackout: Shiroro, Sapele power plants shut

The nation’s electricity woes worsened on Tuesday as two additional power generating plants were shut down, bringing the total number of plants not generating any megawatts of electricity to 10.

The two shut plants are Shiroro Power Station in Niger State and Sapele II in Delta State, industry data obtained by our correspondent showed.

Shiroro, whose capacity was put at 600MW, was said to have seen its unit 411G1 tripped on emergency shutdown on the 86ES lockout relay; units 411G2 and 3 out for under water repair work; and unit 411G4 out on maintenance.

The Sapele II, built under the National Integrated Power Project, with its capacity put at 225MW, has four units. The GT1 was shut down for maintenance, GT3 out due to work by the Nigerian Gas Company at the gas station, while the GT2 and 4 units are out as a result of gas constraints.

Total national power generation stood at 2,774.2MW on Tuesday, down from 3,657.5MW on March 31. Generation from Egbin, the nation’s biggest power station, was limited to 415MW due to gas constraints, down from 1,085MW on March 15.

Shell’s Afam VI power plant generated the highest megawatts of electricity at 418MW as of 6am, the data showed.

The slide in power generation has worsened the blackout being experienced in many parts of the country as many consumers complained of outages lasting for hours on end.

The PUNCH had on Friday reported exclusively that eight of the nation’s power plants were completely idle on Thursday, with significant reduction in generation from others, including Egbin, which is located in Lagos.

The plants, which did not generate any megawatts of electricity included Sapele, Delta State, whose installed capacity was put at 240MW; Olorunsogo II in Ogun State, with a capacity of 625MW; Rivers IPP (180MW) and Trans-Amadi (75MW), both in Rivers State.

Others were Geregu I in Kogi; Afam IV & V in Rivers, and A.E.S and Asco, whose installed capacity were not given.

Sapele’s units were said to be shut due to gas constraints, tripping, maintenance and major overhaul, among other reasons.

The Rivers IPP’s unit GT1 was out due to gas constraints, while Trans-Amadi’s GT1 and 4 units were out due to line constraints; GT2 due to gas constraints and GT3 undergoing maintenance.

According to the data, there was no communication on A.E.S, while Asco’s unit GT1 was out due to a fire outbreak. Olorunsogo’s units GT1 to 4 and ST2 were shut due to gas constraints, and ST1 for maintenance.

Geregu’s three units were shut due to outage and to enable them to undergo a major overhaul and maintenance, while a unit of Afam IV & V had been de-commissioned and scrapped; four were out due to blade failure and two due to burnt generator transformer, among others.

Blackout: Shiroro, Sapele power plants shut

Army apprehends wanted Boko Haram kingpin in Sapele

A middle-aged man suspected to be a member of the Boko Haram sect has been apprehended in Sapele , Delta, by officers of the 19 Battalion of Nigerian Army.

Nigerians soldiers with Boko Haram flag

The suspect, Bukar Abacha, was arrested shortly after he arrived the popular Hausa quarters in Sapele.

A senior army officer who did not want his name mentioned, said on Thursday that a member of the Arewa community gave the information to“Operation Pulo Shield.’’

The Borno-state born suspect was, thereafter, handed over to the Army Headquarters in Abuja for further interrogation, the senior officer said.

The officer said that the suspect was on the wanted list of the army

He said that a sensitisation exercise tagged “show of force confidence building patrol’’ had been inaugurated.

“The exercise is aimed at disarming all acts of criminalities such as, kidnapping, pipeline vandalism, illegal oil bunkering and killing of innocent citizens in the area.

“Before the arrest, community leaders informed us that the suspect was looking strange, psychologically imbalance and uncomfortable in their midst that called for his doubt as one of them,’’ he said.

The officer urged the people to give the army necessary intelligent information that would assist to effectively stamp out crime in the society.

He urged residents to report people with questionable character or strange movement of persons in their domains.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the army pasted lists of names, containing 100 wanted Boko Haram suspects in some strategic places in Sapele metropolis

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Army apprehends wanted Boko Haram kingpin in Sapele

Why Sapele people rejected APC

Politicians and political office holders in Sapele on Wednesday warned All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the April 11, 2015 House of Assembly Election in Sapele Constituency, Chief Felix Anirah against provocative statements.

APC data Centre

Rising from a meeting in Elume, the leaders accused Anirah of engaging in a fruitless campaign against Delta State House of Assembly Speaker, Rt. Hon. Monday Igbuya.

Reminding the people to be careful of power-hungry politicians and those working against the interest of the constituency, the leaders praised Igbuya for injecting best practice into government and translating the actual wants of the people into the vision and mission of the Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

government.

“Igbuya is devoting his energies and resources to solving problems in Delta State. He is working so hard to make life meaningful to the good people of Sapele” the leaders said in a statement signed by the Chairman of Politicians and Political Office Holders in Sapele (PPOHIS), Mr. Oghene -Ochuko Abeke.

The leaders, who dismissed Anirah as somebody not on ground at home, described his views as a display of outright malice and envy against Igbuya.

“If the election is repeated tomorrow, Anirah would get fewer votes than what he got in the April 11 election.”

They noted that there was no basis for Out-of-Court Settlement.

“The outcome of the two judgments only reflected the resounding victory of Igbuya at the polls.

There was a little hope around Anirah’s candidacy. Indeed, he was rejected by the people because of his abysmal performance as chairman of Sapele Local Government” the statement said.

“Igbuya met more voters, knocked on more doors and campaigned harder. The people voted for Igbuya. He is doing well as Speaker of the Sixth Assembly” the leaders said.

The leaders advised the speaker to disregard the recent criticism of him by Anirah. “Felix Anirah is a clueless, visionless, reckless and feckless politician”.

Stressing that Anirah and his associates do not mean well for Sapele Constituency, the leaders urged Igbuya to keep up the good works.

“Sapele people at home and abroad must condemn the evil machinations of Anirah, his highly contagious anointing to lie and the satanic grace to mislead the people”.

The leaders also thanked the people for the confidence reposed on Igbuya.

“We thank the good and peace loving people of Sapele who have refused to be hoodwinked by the tissues of lies and propaganda being woven and dished out by Anirah” the statement said.

They also enjoined Deltans to join hands with Governor Okowa to strengthen the pillars of good governance

Why Sapele people rejected APC