The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has announced the destruction of two of its transmission towers in Igbooghene community of Bayelsa state.
TCN ‘s General Manager, Public Affairs, Mrs. Ndidi Mbah who announced the development in a statement on Thursday said, towers T98 and T99 along the Ahoada/Yenagoa 132kV line were vandalized on July 29, 2024.
Mrs. Mbah said, the incident caused the collapse of both towers, cutting off power supply to Bayelsa State, including TCN’s Yenagoa Sub-station and the Gbarain Power Station, adding that presently, Yenagoa Metropolis and the entire Bayelsa State are still without power supply.
She, however, stated that the company’s engineers led by the General Manager Transmission, Port Harcourt Region, Engr. Emmanuel Akpa and accompanied by men from the DSS have inspected the site of the vandalized towers, saying that plans are already ongoing to mobilize a contractor on an emergency basis to reconstruct the collapsed towers.
“This follows an incident on June 16, 2024, where an individual was caught vandalizing tower T238 along the Owerri/Ahoada 132kV double circuit transmission lines. Another act of vandalism occurred on June 10, 2024, at the Ahoada Transmission Substation”, Mrs. Mbah lamented.
She urged the public to help in the ongoing fight against the vandalism of power infrastructure nationwide, noting that the company would continue to collaborate with security operatives and host communities including the DSS and Civil Defence Corps to combat the menace.
Meanwhile, she said, the company is interfacing with stakeholders including security operatives in Yenagoa to put in place other initiatives geared towards helping TCN curtail the menace within the State.
“As we continue to work towards a robust grid, it is pertinent to note that a nation’s power sector cannot grow efficiently if funds intended for infrastructural expansion are repeatedly used to replace vandalized equipment”, she said.
