Thousands of electricity consumers across parts of Abuja and North-Central Nigeria may face disruptions in power supply following the collapse of six transmission towers on the Apir–Lafia 330kV Transmission Lines I and II.
The affected towers, identified as T125 to T130, were reportedly vandalised before collapsing during a heavy downpour in the early hours of May 30.
This, according to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), has left the critical transmission corridor out of service and raising concerns about electricity reliability in areas served by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC).
TCN in a statement issued Tuesday night by its General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, said both transmission lines remain unavailable pending the reconstruction of the damaged towers.
It added that the situation could affect power delivery to customers within the affected franchise areas.
According to the company, the incident occurred at about 1:15 a.m. when the two transmission lines tripped.
It stated that efforts to restore one of the lines through a trial reclosure failed, prompting engineers to conduct a physical inspection of the corridor.
The company explained that the inspection revealed extensive damage to critical tower components between towers T125 and T130, confirming that the infrastructure had been vandalised.
TCN said engineers had been deployed to the site to assess the extent of the damage and determine the materials needed for reconstruction and restoration of normal power transmission.
To cushion the impact on electricity consumers, the company said the Lafia 330kV Transmission Station is currently being supplied through the Lafia–Jos transmission line as a temporary arrangement.
“This is to minimise the impact of the outage on affected electricity customers within the franchise areas of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company and Jos Electricity Distribution Company,” the company stated.
The company, however, warned that the destruction of transmission infrastructure continues to pose a serious threat to the stability of power supply and undermines investments made in the nation’s electricity sector.
TCN condemned the vandalism and appealed to residents of host communities and the general public to remain vigilant and promptly report suspicious activities around transmission facilities to security agencies or the nearest TCN office.
