Vandals attack TCN towers again, disrupt power supply to Abuja

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has reported another incident of vandalism on the 330kV Lokoja-Gwagwalada transmission line, disrupting electricity supply to Abuja.

In a statement released on Sunday, TCN revealed that the attack occurred in the early hours of November 9 and affected three transmission towers.

The statement detailed that TCN engineers had attempted to re-energize the Lokoja-Gwagwalada transmission line on Saturday morning. However, after multiple failed attempts to restore power, a team of linesmen was dispatched to inspect the infrastructure. Upon investigation, they discovered that vandals had damaged transmission towers T306, T307, and T308, and stolen two spans of aluminum conductor, causing a disruption in bulk power transmission along the route.

While TCN continues to supply power through an alternate line, efforts are underway to procure replacement conductors to restore the damaged line fully. This incident is part of a troubling pattern of vandalism affecting the country's power infrastructure, with previous attacks on nearby lines, including incidents on the Gwagwalada-Kukuwaba-Apo transmission line in December 2023 and the Gwagwalada-Katampe line in February 2024.

TCN has expressed growing concern over the increasing frequency of such attacks, which pose a significant challenge to the stability and expansion of Nigeria's national grid. The company urged local communities to cooperate with security agencies to prevent further vandalism, emphasizing that damage to power installations hinders the nation's efforts to build a stable and reliable transmission system.