THE Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said 128 transmission towers were destroyed by vandals in 2024, raising concern over the recurrent epileptic power supply in the country.
The transmission company also said it spent about N8.8 billion to repair and put into adequate use the vandalised transmission towers within the year.
The chief executive officer of TCN, Suleiman Ahmed Abdulaziz, disclosed this at the quarterly power sector working group meeting in Abuja.
Special adviser to the minister of power on strategic communication and media relations, Bolaji Tunji, also confirmed this in a statement issued on Wednesday, November 28.
He also disclosed that the Federal Government was working with the World Bank and the African Development Bank (ADB) to make electricity available to 50 million Nigerians by 2030.
Abdulaziz, who was represented by the executive director of Transmission Service Provider (TSO) of TCN, Olugbenga Emmanuel Ajiboye, said bandits and vandals destroyed 128 transmission towers across the country between January 13 and November 28, 2024.
He expressed worry that despite several arrests made of the vandals by the police, they often returned to continue with the vandalism after securing bail.
He said “As I talk to you today, 128 of our towers have been destroyed by either vandals or bandits. To date, we have spent about N8.8 billion, by our estimation, to put them back to full and functional use.
“It is so sad that each time the vandals were caught and taken to the police for prosecution, police would incident them for theft, instead of vandalism and they will be bailed. If they are charged for vandalism, they cannot be bailed, but this is where we are. So many of them have been arrested, but each time they will be bailed because police often incident their cases as that of theft.
“When the Shiroro-Mando-Kaduna towers were destroyed, we had to get the full military escorts for our contractors to get the transmission lines and towers restored. In some cases, they would tell us that we could only work for two hours on some days. In some instances, they would even tell us that it was not safe to move there. How do we get out of this? How can we deliver electricity to Nigerians under these terrible circumstances? These are part of the challenges we are facing in the power sector”, Abdulaziz added.
Notably, the transmission line is a critical infrastructure that supplies power to different regions across the country but has been the target of vandals in several regions across the country.
In October, the ICIR reported that most of the states in the North were thrown into darkness by vandals, which disrupted economic activities within the region.
The ICIR reported that the disruption was due to the vandalisation of the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line, the major line that supplies electricity to the North.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.