By Igbinosa Rhoda
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has expressed serious concerns over the increasing incidents of damage to transmission lines and towers, warning that these practices are destabilising the nation’s power grid and compromising its foundation.
The General Manager for Public Affairs at TCN, Mrs. Ndidi Mbah, reported that the most recent incident involved the destruction of the 330kV Lokoja-Gwagwalada transmission line early on Saturday.
According to Mbah, TCN engineers attempted to restore the line that morning, but it repeatedly failed.
Upon inspection, a TCN patrol team discovered that vandals had damaged transmission towers T306, T307, and T308 along the line, severely disrupting power transmission.
“The vandals stole two spans of aluminium conductors from the line, and we are currently making efforts to source replacements,” Mbah stated.
She explained that while the Lokoja-Gwagwalada line is a double-circuit line, TCN has been managing to supply power through the undamaged line two. However, the missing aluminium conductors are essential for restoring maximum efficiency to line one.
“The rise in vandalism affecting transmission lines and towers presents a major obstacle, impacting Nigeria’s power infrastructure and undermining the stability and growth of the national grid,” Mbah noted.
She highlighted several past incidents, particularly in the Gwagwalada area, where the Gwagwalada-Kukuwaba-Apo transmission line was attacked in December 2023, followed by an assault on the Gwagwalada-Katampe line in February 2024, among others.
She reiterated that such disruptions pose a danger to the nation’s power supply and appealed to communities to support TCN and security agencies in addressing this issue.