Suspected terrorists have again attacked two electricity transmission towers along the Gombe-Damaturu segment of power infrastructure operated by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
The destruction of ‘Tower T377 and T378’ by the insurgents is coming about two months after the TCN announced that one of its towers, T372, around Katsaita village in Yobe state had been similarly vandalised.
The incident led to the collapse of the 330kV transmission tower which subsequently pulled down tower T373 along the same transmission line route, it said.
Now largely weakened, the terrorists have since focused on destroying power supply infrastructure in the North-eastern part of Nigeria.
Just before Christmas last year, there was another attack which threw Borno and Yobe into darkness. At a point there was no light in parts of Borno, due to previous attacks, before the federal government managed to restore power.
A week after the Christmas incident last year, an officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps ((NSCDC) was killed, arising from the bombing of three other power transmission towers by terrorists along Maiduguri-Damaturu.
In 2021, after the government attempted to restore power in Borno following the destruction of power assets, terrorists planted explosive devices along the path, killing some staff of the TCN who were working to restore electricity and injured others, including some soldiers who were on guard duty.
But in the latest incident, the TCN in a statement signed by the General Manager, Public Affairs of the company, Ndidi Mbah, stated that up to 5mw was lost on the line due to the attack.
“The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) regrets to announce the vandalism and destruction of two of its transmission towers, T377 and T378, along the Gombe-Damaturu 330kV transmission line on February 23, 2024. This act, perpetrated by insurgents, resulted in a load loss of approximately 5mw.
“At approximately 9:35 pm on Sunday (Friday), the Gombe – Damaturu 330kV transmission line experienced a trip.
“Following initial checks, TCN engineers from the Bauchi regional office attempted the restoration of the line but it tripped again, prompting the dispatch of TCN’s linesmen and security operatives to trace the fault. The team, then discovered the two collapsed towers, T377 and T378,” Mbah explained.
She pointed out that in the meantime, while efforts are being made to put the towers back to work, the company had temporarily connected to the Potiskum transmission substation.
“In the interim, TCN has arranged to temporarily supply electricity to Damaturu from the Potiskum transmission substation. Meanwhile, arrangements are underway to mobilise contractors that will re-erect the vandalised transmission towers and restring the 330kV line affected by the incident,” she added.
The TCN begged the authorities to ramp up efforts at protecting the facilities to stamp out such attacks in the future.
Recall that the minister of power, Adebayo Adelabu, had recently announced a collaboration with the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) to tackle the menace.
But the TCN said it condemned the act of sabotage and was again calling on relevant authorities to intensify efforts in the protection of Nigeria’s power infrastructure.
“We are committed to working diligently to expedite the restoration process and minimise the impact of this unfortunate incident on power supply to the affected areas,” the company added.
Emmanuel Addeh
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