The Transmission Company of Nigeria on Monday announced that three additional towers were vandalized in the north-east, which has exacerbated power outage in the region.
This was disclosed in a statement by the spokesperson of TCN, Ndidi Mbah, on Monday, according to The Punch.
According to TCN, it discovered that three more towers had been vandalized when it was trying to complete the reconstruction of four of the towers that had been damaged in the North-East.
It said the latest incident occurred along the Biu – Danbua 132kV transmission line, as 16 spans of conductors were stolen, adding that this was discovered by the company on Friday, according to The Punch.
Last week, TCN responded to the North East Governors Forum stressing that electricity will be restored in this area on 27 May 2024.
This follows the North East Governors’ Forum raised concerns about the lack of attention to the region as the NEGF criticised the TCN for its poor handling of the repair of damaged transmission towers in the region.
It also stated that tower number T290, one of the four new towers erected by TCN contractors along the Jos – Gombe 330kV transmission line collapsed during the cable stringing process.
“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,” the company stated.
However, TCN noted that three other towers were destroyed by vandalism while it was working on resolving this issue.
“It is unfortunate to note that while TCN is working on reconstructing and restringing the four vandalized towers, three towers along the Biu – Danbua 132kV transmission line were also vandalized with 16 spans of conductors stolen.
“The towers which have all collapsed include towers T1690, T1691, and T1692. TCN has mobilized a contractor to commence their reconstruction. This discovery was made by the TCN patrol team last Friday.
“Additionally, this morning, the TCN lines patrol team discovered that tower T540 along the Makurdi – Jos 330kV double circuit transmission line has been vandalized. Sections of the tower have been removed, although the tower remains standing. TCN has contracted emergency repairs to prevent its collapse,” the power firm stated.
However, the committee observed that TCN contractors and some of its engineers had been working hard to speed up repair work on earlier destroyed towers despite security problems in the area.
It said the firm did “all that was humanly possible to meet the timeline. Daily, the contractor and TCN engineers accompanied by security operatives consistently left the site by 10 pm and resumed work at 6 am every day.”
The firm said, “Constructing towers and stringing power cables at such heights is highly technical, although TCN contractors and staff have completed similar projects in other parts of the country.
“The collapse of the fourth tower is a significant setback, given the extensive efforts to ensure that today’s power restoration timeline was met. Our contractor is currently dismantling the collapsed tower members to enable its reconstruction and final restringing of the cable.”
