The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has announced that electricity lines supplying power to various parts of Abuja have once again been attacked and damaged by vandals.
A statement from the company, signed by Public Affairs Manager Ndidi Mbah, said the incident happened early on Friday morning at a 132kv transmission line and underground cable supplying power to the 132kv Central Area transmission substation in Abuja’s Central Area.
The statement said: “Transmission lines taking power to parts of Abuja have again been attacked by vandals.
“The incident occurred in the early hours of Friday at the 132kv transmission line and underground cable transmitting bulk power to the 132kv Central Area transmission substation, Katampe, in the Central Area of Abuja.
“This has affected the supply of electricity to Maitama, Wuse and Garki.”
According to TCN, the incident caused an outage in eight power distribution feeders in the Central Area, cutting off over 60% of the electricity supply to the capital city.
The company condemned the frequent vandalism of power cables nationwide and announced that a team of engineers had been sent to the site to expedite power restoration in the affected regions.
Mbah also appealed to affected residents to bear with the transmission agency as efforts are in top gear to ensure repairs of the vandalised cables.
She added: “The vandalism of this critical transmission infrastructure is suspected to have been carried out by unknown persons around Millenium Park axis of Abuja.
“The vandals carted away 40 meters of 1x500mm conductor on the 2No of 132kv transmission lines.
“The incident has affected the power supply to Maitama, Wuse, Jabi, Lifecamp, Asokoro, Utako, Mabushi and part of the Presidential Villa.
“TCN engineers have been mobilized to the site to repair the vandalized cable and encourage all Nigerians to be vigilant to protect our transmission equipment.”
Persecondnews recalls that the federal government had in 2024 announced that it spent N8.8 billion to repair 128 electricity towers damaged by vandals nationwide.
This repair work took place between January 20 and November 28.
Also, according to data released by the Federal Ministry of Power in September 2024, vandals destroyed 63 power transmission towers across Nigeria between January and August 2024, severely impacting the country’s electricity supply.
The majority of the damage occurred in the northern regions, with reports of vandalism also emerging from the southern and eastern parts of the country.
The destruction was extensive, with 17 towers collapsing completely, and components such as conductors, underground cables, and braces being stolen from the remaining towers.
Among the notable incidents are: Tower 388 on the 132kV Jos-Bauchi line in Bauchi/Yelwa and Gwalameji collapsed.
Similarly, Towers 377 and 378 on the 330kV Gombe-Damaturu line along Bauchi/Gombe and Damaturu also collapsed.
Additional collapses were reported on the 330kV Damaturu-Maiduguri line, including Towers 125, 126, 193, 194, and 195.
In the Bauchi-Gombe area, 450, 452, 453, and 455 on the 132kV line were vandalised, and Tower 70 on the 330kV Gwagwalada-Katampe line in Abuja saw four of its footings destroyed.
Other targeted areas included Port Harcourt, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano, and Benin, with multiple towers damaged or destroyed in these regions.
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