Blackout In Yobe, Borno As Vandals Damage Transmission Towers

Electricity consumers in Yobe and Borno States have been thrown into darkness as vandals using explosives pulled down the transmission towers supplying power to the states .

The management of Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, which announced the ugly development via a statement issued by  the TCN general manager,  Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, on Friday in Abuja, said the incident occurred at about 21:18 on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the company added that, it has mobilised one of its contractors to the site of the incident with a view to commencing the reconstruction of the damaged transmission towers.

The statement reads; “The Transmission Company of Nigeria hereby states that one of its towers, tower T372 around Katsaita Village in Yobe State was vandalised, yesterday, bringing down the 330kV transmission tower which pulled down tower T373 along the same transmission line route.

“The incident, which took place at about 21:18 of yesterday, the 21st of December, 2023, caused the failure of power supply to parts of the North East, namely, Yobe and Borno States.

“While patrolling the line to ascertain the cause of the cut in power supply, TCN engineers discovered the fallen towers, and the villagers confirmed they heard a loud explosion before the tower came down.

“On closer investigation, the engineers found evidence of explosives used by the vandals in bringing down the towers.

“Presently, TCN mobilised one of its contractors to the site of the incident to commence the reconstruction of the transmission towers damaged by the vandals.

“TCN strongly condemns the incident and regrets the inconvenience caused to the government and people of Yobe and Borno States and pledges to do all that is possible to quickly re-erect the towers to restore power supply to the affected areas.

“We are once again making an urgent appeal to host communities to collaborate with TCN in the fight against vandalism and the necessary preservation of power infrastructures nationwide, which is our collective asset.”