POWER supply in some parts of Yobe and Borno states has been disrupted following an attack on transmission towers of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) by vandals.
The TCN General Manager of Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, disclosed this in a statement on Friday, December 22.
Mbah said tower T372 around Katsaita village in Yobe state was vandalised, bringing down the 330kV transmission tower and, consequently, tower T373 along the same transmission line.
She noted that the incident, which occurred at about 21:18 on Thursday, December 21, 2023, caused the power supply failure to parts of the North-East, namely, Yobe and Borno states.
Mbah explained that while patrolling the line to ascertain the cause of the cut in power supply, TCN engineers discovered the fallen towers, and the villagers confirmed they heard a loud explosion before the tower came down. On closer investigation, the engineers found evidence of explosives used by the vandals in bringing down the towers.
She said TCN had mobilised one of its contractors to the site of the incident to commence the tower reconstruction.
“TCN strongly condemns the incident and regrets the inconvenience caused to the government and people of Yobe and Borno states and pledges to do all possible to quickly re-erect the towers to restore power supply to the affected areas.
“We are once again making an urgent appeal to host communities to collaborate with TCN in the fight against vandalism and the necessary preservation of power infrastructures nationwide, which is our collective asset”, she added.
Data obtained from TCN showed that 108 power transmission towers were destroyed by vandals in various parts of the country between January 2022 and September 2023.
The data also revealed that vandals destroyed 132kV double circuit power transmission lines, 330kV double circuit lines and carried out soil excavation that threatened transmission towers. The Federal Government described the development as sabotage.
The former Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, had severally raised concerns over the impact of activities of vandals in Nigeria’s power and telecom infrastructure, particularly in the North-West and North-East parts of the country, and its negative impact on the region’s economy.
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.