THE Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has announced the destruction of two of its transmission towers in the Igbooghene community of Bayelsa state.
TCN ‘s General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, who announced the development in a statement on Thursday, August 1, said towers T98 and T99 along the Ahoada/Yenagoa 132kV line were vandalised on July 29, 2024.
According to Mbah, the incident caused the collapse of both towers, cutting off the power supply to Bayelsa State, including TCN’s Yenagoa sub-station and the Gbarain Power Station, adding that Yenagoa metropolis and the entire Bayelsa State were without power supply.
She, however, stated that the company’s engineer, led by the General Manager of Transmission, Port Harcourt Region, Emmanuel Akpa, accompanied by men from the State Security Services (SSS) inspected the site of the vandalised towers, promising that plans were already ongoing to mobilise a contractor on an emergency basis to reconstruct the collapsed tower buildings.
“This follows an incident on June 16, 2024, where an individual was caught vandalising tower T238 along the Owerri/Ahoada 132kV double circuit transmission lines. Another act of vandalism occurred on June 10, 2024, at the Ahoada Transmission Substation”, Mbah noted.
She urged the public to help in the ongoing fight against the vandalism of power infrastructure nationwide, noting that the company would continue to collaborate with security operatives and host communities including the State Security Services and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to combat the menace.
Meanwhile, she said, the company was interfacing with stakeholders including security operatives in Yenagoa to put other initiatives geared towards helping TCN curtail the menace within the state.
“As we continue to work towards a robust grid, it is pertinent to note that a nation’s power sector cannot grow efficiently if funds intended for infrastructural expansion are repeatedly used to replace vandalised equipment”, she said.
The ICIR reported that on Thursday, January 25, the TCN announced a gradual decrease in available generation to the national grid and distribution companies’ load centres.
The organisation explained that the situation was due to gas constraints to the thermal generating companies, which had impacted the quantum of bulk power available on the transmission grid.
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.