Oredola Adeola

The Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) is coordinating a joint operation involving the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), headquartered in Kaduna, and the Nigerian Army to provide surveillance and security for the 330kV Shiroro-Kaduna transmission lines 1 and 2, which were vandalized by unknown persons.

Sunday Dare, Special Adviser on Public Communication and National Orientation to President Bola Tinubu, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.

According to him, the operation also includes security cover for personnel from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) working in the dense forest areas of Shiroro.

He further noted that the TCN engineering team had successfully located the faults on the lines and was already conducting repairs, adding that Line 2 would soon be restored.

“We are focused on closing the first line and moving to complete the other line as quickly as possible,” Dare stated.

The Special Adviser to the President further revealed that TCN was making progress toward temporarily supplying 400 megawatts of power from the Ugwuaji-Apir 330kV transmission line to alleviate the impact on affected northern regions.

Recall that Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s General Manager of Public Affairs, provided updates on Wednesday, confirming that the fault on the Ugwuaji-Apir line was traced to a snapped transmission line located in a swampy forest area near Igumale.

Mbah disclosed that engineers from TCN’s Enugu Regional Office had mobilized on Thursday, October 24, bringing heavy equipment, including a bulldozer and a Hiab vehicle, to access the difficult terrain.

She expressed confidence that the team would achieve partial power restoration soon.

Meanwhile, despite earlier assurances from Kaduna Electric’s Head of Corporate Communication, Abdulazeez Abdullahi, that repairs would be completed by Saturday, power remains out in several northern states.

Advisors Reports gathered that the vandalism of the 330kV Shiroro-Kaduna transmission lines has caused severe power outages in Kano, Kaduna, and other neighboring states.

Initially, TCN diverted power through the Ugwuaji-Makurdi 330kV line to reduce the impact.

However, the alternative line experienced a fault on October 22 near Igumale, Benue State, resulting in a 468 MW power loss and exacerbating the situation.