Borno in darkness as vandals bomb TCN transmission towers

The Transmission Company of Nigeria has said that vandals had demolished two of its towers, T193 and T194, along the Damaturu-Maiduguri 330 Kilo Volt (KV Single Circuit) transmission lines.

Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s General Manager of Public Affairs, revealed this in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja.

According to Mbah, the incident occurred at approximately 10:15 p.m. on Tuesday, when the 150 Mega Volt Ampere power transformer at Molai Substation tripped.

She said the tripping happened at the same time as the 330kV transmission line supplying bulk power to Maiduguri from Damaturu Transmission Substation.

“After the line tripping, efforts were made by TCN engineers to close the Mulai – Damaturu line to enable bulk transmission of electricity, which failed repeatedly.

“Early today, TCN lines engineers along with security operatives patrolled the line and discovered that towers 193 and 194 along the 330kV transmission line were brought down using an explosive device, whose fragments are scattered at the site of the incident.

“The area affected by this incident is Maiduguri and its environs, ” she said.

Mbah recalled that on December 28, 2023, towers T193, T194 and T195, were destroyed using similar improvised explosives.

She said that two out of the towers in question were the towers affected by Tuesday’s vandalism attack, which were rebuilt after that incident.

According to her, TCN is currently assessing the situation to decide the best approach to ensuring temporary restoration of the power supply while a contractor is mobilised to rebuild the two transmission towers.

“We will continue to do everything possible with the assistance of security operatives to protect our transmission towers.

“We are also calling upon the government and well-meaning Nigerians to join in the fight against the destruction of our collective national assets, ”she said.

NAN