With the five day, general blackout in Imo State caused by the vandalisation on Friday March 14, of a NEPA 132kv Aba Owerri High tension line, authorities of the Nigeria Electricity Power Authority (NEPA) has said it would require about N25million to restore power supply to the state within the short period.

General Manager, Transmission, Enugu Zone , Engr Onwnyinwa Nwachukwu, stated this yesterday while briefing journalists on efforts made by the corporation to restore electricity supply to the state.

Meanwhile the vandalisation of the NEPA installations in Agbala, has been condemned by the state governor , Chief Achike Udenwa, during an inspection tour of the affected area as an act of sabotage since no component part of the vandalised high tension line was removed.

The incident was causing scarcity of water in owerri in the last few days, with residents of the town now resorting to fetching water from boreholes and streams.

The governor has however promised that the Ministry of Public Utilities and Rural Development would examine the possiblity of powering water from the Orjiuratta and Ubomiri water scheme to alleviate the water shortage experience by the people. The General Manager, Transmission, also said that the executive director of NEPA had already been intimated with the development and that manufactures of the specific high tension cables involved had been contacted for commencement of repair work .

"This is clear sabotage. This syndicate have appeared to master the act. No normal human being leaves his family and do this cutting of lines . They are desperate people who got better pay to do it," he said.

While appealing to the villagers to be more committed to ensuring the security of NEPA Installations in their vicinity , Nwachukwu said already local vigilantes have been engaged to make sure the vandals was deterred from visiting the scene.