The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) reported that vandals destroyed two transmission towers along the Ahoada-Yenagoa 132KV line in the Igbooghene community of Bayelsa.
In a statement released on Friday, Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s general manager of public affairs, identified the damaged towers as T98 and T99.
Mbah explained that the collapse of these towers has cut off power supply to Bayelsa, affecting TCN’s Yenagoa substation and the Gbarain power station, leaving Yenagoa Metropolis and the entire Bayelsa without power.
“Our engineers, led by Engr. Emmanuel Akpa, general manager of transmission for the Port Harcourt region, along with DSS personnel, have inspected the vandalized towers,” the TCN stated.
Plans are being made to urgently mobilize a contractor to reconstruct the collapsed towers. This follows another incident on June 16, 2024, where an individual was caught vandalizing tower T238 along the Owerri-Ahoada 132kV double circuit transmission lines. A similar act of vandalism occurred on June 10, 2024, at the Ahoada Transmission Substation.
TCN is urging the public to assist in combating the vandalism of power infrastructure nationwide. The company is collaborating with security agencies and local communities, including the DSS and Civil Defence Corps, to address this issue.
Mbah mentioned that TCN is working with stakeholders, including security operatives in Yenagoa, to implement additional measures to prevent further vandalism.
The company reiterated its commitment to maintaining a robust grid, stating that “a nation’s power sector cannot grow efficiently if funds intended for infrastructure expansion are repeatedly used to replace vandalized equipment.”
On March 23, the house of representatives directed TCN to repair the power transmission substation in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa state. This motion was moved by Oboku Offor, a lawmaker from Bayelsa, who noted that the 132/33KV transmission substation serving Yenagoa and its environs was destroyed by fire on September 23, 2023, plunging the area into “total darkness.” Since then, the state has been “struggling to use only one feeder to supply five feeders.”
