Vandals attack newly rebuilt transmission towers on Nigeria Democracy Day
The announcement was made by Ndidi Mbah, General Manager of Public Affairs, in a statement obtained by Advisors Reports on Wednesday.
According to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), the attack occurred at approximately 10:15 PM on Tuesday night, when the 150MVA power transformer at Molai Substation tripped simultaneously with the 330kV transmission line supplying bulk power to Maiduguri from the Damaturu Transmission Substation.
Mbah explained that following the line tripping, TCN engineers made several attempts to close the Molai-Damaturu line to restore electricity transmission, but these efforts were unsuccessful.
Early on Wednesday, TCN engineers, accompanied by security operatives, patrolled the line and discovered that towers 193 and 194 had been brought down using explosive devices, with fragments scattered at the site.
She emphasized that the damage to towers 193 and 194 has severely impacted Maiduguri and its surrounding areas. This incident follows a similar attack on December 28, 2023, when towers T193, T194, and T195 were destroyed using improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
That particular incident resulted in the deaths of some TCN staff working to restore electricity and injuries to others, including soldiers on guard duty.
Mbah noted that the towers affected by Tuesday’s attack were among those rebuilt after the December 2023 incident.
She confirmed that the TCN is currently assessing the situation to determine the best approach for temporarily restoring the power supply while mobilizing a contractor to rebuild the damaged transmission towers.
Mbah therefore assured that TCN, with the assistance of security operatives, will continue to protect its transmission towers.
Advisors Reports’ investigation revealed that in January 2021, a similar incident occurred when Boko Haram allegedly attacked high-tension electricity towers near Jakana village, plunging Borno into darkness for over a year.
The TCN spokesperson called upon the government and Nigerians to join the fight against the destruction of national assets, highlighting the critical need for collective efforts to safeguard the country’s infrastructure.