By ABAH SUNDAY, Abuja
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says four (4) towers along the Jos – Gombe 330kV transmission line have been vandalised.
A statement signed by the company’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, affirmed that the incident happened at about 3:32pm on Monday, 22nd April, 2024.
According to TCN, when the 330kV transmission line tripped, its operators attempted to restore it to service but it tripped again, prompting the dispatch of TCN lines men to trace the line in order to detect and rectify the fault.
“While fault tracing, TCN’s engineering crew discovered that towers 288, 289 , 290, and 291 were vandalised and that some tower members were carted away. Also, the towers had equally collapsed as a result of the incident.
“Presently, bulk power supply to Gombe, Yola, and Jalingo Substations have been disrupted, affecting bulk power supply to parts of Yola and Jos Electricity Distribution Companies’ franchise areas.
“To mitigate the effect of the incident on electricity consumers affected by the incident, TCN is trying to first back feed Gombe through its 132kV transmission line from Bauchi and subsequently Ashaka, Potiskum, Damaturu, and Billiri/ Savannah.
“We will do everything possible to ensure that supply is restored to the affected areas, while efforts are made to reconstruct the four vandalised towers,” TCN said.
Vandalisation of power towers around the country has become a recurring decimal in recent times. Just weeks ago, the Katampe-Shiroro Transmission Line was vandalised.
This latest incident coincided with the Senate’s oversight visit to the Ministry of Power on Monday where TCN’ Managing Director, Engr Sule Abdulaziz mentioned vandalism as one of the major clogs in the wheel of progress for the company.