Power outage persists in northern cities as TCN struggles with collapsed towers

Residents in northern Nigeria face continued power outages as the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) grapples with the aftermath of collapsed transmission towers. These critical structures, essential for transporting electricity long distances, were damaged by unspecified causes, plunging entire cities into darkness.

Ndidi Mbah, the company’s spokesperson, reported that TCN discovered the theft of 16 conductor spans on Friday, which occurred along the Biu-Danbua 132kV transmission line.

The Northeast Governors Forum (NEGF) had earlier expressed disapproval of the darkness in the region due to tower vandalism in the wake of a recent rise in electricity tariffs.

Last week TCN responded by acknowledging that the region’s lack of power supply poses serious obstacles and challenges, and it promised to restore power by May 27th, 2024.

However, on Monday, TCN said that it had discovered that three more towers had been vandalised while attempting to finish the rebuilding of four that had previously been vandalised in the North-East in a statement released by Mbah.

Mbah said, “The incident occurred at about 7 am, this morning, May 27, 2024, while the contractor was stringing the cable on the last tower, which was supposed to enable the final jointing of the power cable in time for energising of the line today”.

She stated, “It is unfortunate to note that while TCN is working on reconstructing and restringing the four vandalised towers, three towers along the Biu – Danbua 132kV transmission line were also vandalised with 16 spans of conductors stolen”.

Mbah said that Towers T1690, T1691, and T1692 are among the fallen structures, adding that TCN has hired a contractor to start rebuilding them.

“Additionally, this morning, the TCN lines patrol team discovered that tower T540 along the Makurdi – Jos 330kV double circuit transmission line has been vandalised. Parts of the tower have been removed, although it is still standing. TCN has contracted emergency repairs to prevent its collapse,” Mbah stated.

She reiterated TCN’s commitment to restoring normal bulk power supply through the distribution companies serving the North East and other areas affected by vandalism.

“There is however an urgent need for everyone to join hands with TCN in protecting our collective assets by being vigilant and reporting any suspected acts of tower and line vandalism promptly,” she added.