Vandals Destroy Six Transmission Towers, Disrupt Power Supply — TCN

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has confirmed the destruction of six transmission towers along the Apir–Lafia 330kV line in Nasarawa State, causing significant disruption to electricity supply in parts of the country.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, TCN spokesperson, Ndidi Mbah, said the incident occurred on May 30 at about 1:15 a.m. during a heavy downpour.

She explained that the transmission line initially tripped, prompting operators to attempt a trial reclosure of Line II at about 2:08 a.m., but the effort failed.

A subsequent inspection of the transmission corridor, however, revealed extensive damage to key components of towers T125 to T130, confirming that the infrastructure had been vandalised.

“The tripping of the lines prompted a physical line trace to determine the fault, which revealed damage to critical components of towers T125 to T130, confirming vandalism on the affected sections of the transmission corridor,” Mbah said.

The incident has forced both Apir–Lafia 330kV Transmission Lines I and II out of service pending the reconstruction of the damaged towers.

TCN said its engineers have been deployed to the site to assess the extent of the damage and determine the materials required to restore normal transmission along the corridor.

As an interim measure, the Lafia 330kV Transmission Station is being supplied through an alternative line to minimise the impact on electricity consumers within the franchise areas of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC).

The company condemned the persistent vandalism of power infrastructure, warning that such acts undermine investments in the electricity sector and threaten the stability of the national grid.

It also urged residents and host communities to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities around transmission installations to security agencies or the nearest TCN office.

TCN stressed that safeguarding critical national infrastructure requires collective responsibility to ensure reliable and uninterrupted electricity supply nationwide.