The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has announced that one of its transmission towers, T372, along the Gombe-Damaturu-Maiduguri 330kV transmission line, has been destroyed by vandals, Okay.ng reports.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s General Manager of Public Affairs, confirmed that the tower was brought down in the early hours of Saturday at Kasaisa village in Gujba Local Government Area, along the Biu-Damaturu road.
The destruction of the tower has resulted in a power outage affecting Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State, and parts of Maiduguri in Borno State.
“This time, the vandals cut off all four tower footings, resulting in the collapse of tower T372 along the Gombe-Damaturu-Maiduguri section, which was discovered by TCN’s linesmen deployed on emergency patrol,” the statement read.
TCN has activated an interim solution, with efforts underway to back-feed Damaturu through a 33kV transmission line from Potiskum, while power to Maiduguri will be supplied from the Maiduguri Emergency Power Plant (MEPP).
Mbah stated that TCN engineers will begin dismantling and evacuating the collapsed tower, with immediate plans to reconstruct the transmission line and restore bulk power to the affected areas as quickly as possible.
The TCN condemned the frequent attacks on national power infrastructure and called on citizens to be vigilant in safeguarding these vital assets.
The company also urged the public to report any suspicious activity around transmission infrastructure to local law enforcement agencies or TCN offices.
