Again, vandals attack TCN towers, Take-away Cables, disrupt power supply to Abuja
Suspected vandals have again attacked the 330kV Lokoja – Gwagwalada transmission line 1, disrupting the power supply to Abuja.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, in a statement on Sunday said the attack which took place in the early hours of November 9, 2024, affected three of its transmission towers.
“Early on Saturday, TCN engineers attempted to re-energize the 330kV Lokoja–Gwagwalada transmission line 1, but the line tripped. After efforts to reclose the line failed, a patrol team of TCN linesmen was dispatched to physically trace the line for faults. Upon inspection, they discovered that transmission towers T306, T307, and T308 along line 1 had been vandalized, disrupting bulk power transmission along the route.
“Further examination revealed that the vandals had stolen two spans of aluminium conductor from line one. The Lokoja–Gwagwalada line is a double-circuit transmission line, and while TCN is still supplying bulk power through line two, efforts are underway to source replacement aluminium conductors for the two spans stolen from line one”.
The noted that “the rising trend of vandalism targeting transmission lines and towers has become a significant challenge, severely impacting the country’s power infrastructure and hindering the expansion and stability of the national grid. This recent incident adds to an alarming pattern of attacks on the transmission network nationwide.
