VANDALS destroyed six transmission towers on the crucial Apir-Lafia transmission line in Nasarawa State, causing severe power supply disruptions, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has said.
According to TCN, the incident occurred on May 30 at about 1.15 am during a downpour.
Mrs Ndidi Mbah, TCN’S General Manager, Public Affairs in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday said that trial reclosure of line II was made at 2:08 am following the initial tripping and failed.
Mbah said that the tripping of lines prompted a physical line trace to determine the fault which revealed damage to critical components of towers T125 to T130, confirming acts of vandalism on the affected sections of the transmission corridor.
She said that as a result of the incident, both Apir–Lafia 330kV Transmission Lines I and II remain out of service pending reconstruction of the affected towers.
“TCN engineers have been mobilised to site to assess the extent of damage and ascertain materials required to commence to restore normal transmission along the corridor.
“Meanwhile, the Lafia 330kV Transmission Station is being supplied through the Lafia–Jos transmission line as a temporary measure.
“To minimise the impact of the outage on affected electricity customers within the franchise areas of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC),” she said.
Mbah also said that TCN strongly condemns the continued vandalism of power transmission infrastructure as it undermines years of investment in the sector.
The company appealed to host communities and the general public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities around transmission installations to security agencies or the nearest TCN office.
According to her, collective action is essential to protect national grid assets and ensure reliable power supply. (NAN)
