Suspected vandals have destroyed the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) tower along the 330 Kilovolt (kV) Gombe-Damaturu-Maiduguri transmission line.
This incident, which occurred in the early hours of Saturday, has plunged the towns of Damaturu in Yobe State and Maiduguri in Borno State into darkness.
The TCN’s General Manager for Public Affairs, Mrs. Ndidi Mbah, made this known in a statement released on Monday, 23rd September 2024. She confirmed that the tower, identified as T372, was brought down around 1:44 a.m.
The attack is said to have been carried out by individuals who deliberately targeted the power infrastructure, further worsening the power situation in an already volatile region.
The impact of the attack has been severe. Damaturu and Maiduguri, two major towns in the northeastern region of Nigeria, are now facing power outages.
Mrs. Mbah explained that the vandals cut off all four footings of the tower, leading to its collapse. This critical tower supported a key section of the 330 kV transmission line that delivers electricity to the region.
TCN engineers were quick to respond, sending teams to the site as soon as the collapse was discovered during emergency patrols. The company has since initiated efforts to mitigate the damage and restore power to the affected areas.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, TCN has implemented emergency measures to restore power in Maiduguri. Mrs. Mbah stated that the town will temporarily be powered by the Maiduguri Emergency Power Plant (MEPP).
This solution, while limited in capacity, will provide some relief to residents and businesses who are suffering from the blackout.
However, for Damaturu, the situation is more complicated. To address the power outage there, TCN engineers are working to back-feed the town through a 33 kV transmission line from Potiskum.
This temporary solution is expected to alleviate the power shortage in Damaturu while long-term repairs on the main transmission line are undertaken.
This is not the first time that power infrastructure in the region has been attacked. In fact, this latest act of vandalism comes just three weeks after TCN restored the same transmission line on September 4, 2024.
The line had previously been destroyed by terrorists in an earlier incident. Security analysts have linked such attacks to the ongoing insurgency in the northeast, where groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have been known to target essential services to destabilise the region.
According to local security expert, Zagazola Makama, the vandals in this recent attack used improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to destroy the tower. He posted on social media that the attackers struck around 2 a.m. on Sunday, causing widespread blackouts in Maiduguri and its surrounding areas.
“The attackers used improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to blow up the facility, plunging Maiduguri and surrounding areas back into darkness. This marks a repeated targeting of the critical infrastructure by insurgents,” Makama wrote.
These acts of sabotage are believed to be part of a broader strategy by insurgent groups to cripple economic activities and increase hardship for civilians in the region.
By targeting power infrastructure, these groups are not only disrupting daily life but also making it harder for security forces to carry out operations in the affected areas.
In her statement, Mrs. Mbah condemned the continued attacks on national assets, describing them as detrimental to Nigeria’s development and security.
She urged citizens to be vigilant and report any suspicious activities around power infrastructure to law enforcement agencies. “TCN frowns at the incessant attack on our collective national assets and enjoins citizens to be vigilant in protecting these assets,” she said.
She emphasised the importance of safeguarding the country’s critical infrastructure, noting that it is a shared responsibility between the government and the public. “We must work together to ensure that such acts of vandalism are prevented in the future,” Mbah added.
In the meantime, the TCN has assured the public that it is committed to quickly restoring power to the affected areas. Engineers will soon begin the process of dismantling the collapsed tower and evacuating it from the site for reconstruction.
Mbah noted that the company would expedite the rebuilding process to ensure that the transmission line is restored as soon as possible.
“Work will commence immediately to dismantle and evacuate the collapsed tower for reconstruction and restoration of the transmission line,” she said.
