A suspected vandal was found crushed to death under a collapsed vandalised transmission tower along the 330kV Ughelli-Benin transmission line in Delta State on Friday, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has announced.
The Company said the discovery was made by linesmen from its Delta Sub-Region Lines Maintenance Department (LMD) during an intensive patrol of the line, which had tripped earlier, due to an earth fault.
Tracking the fault, the patrol team found that Tower 101 on the Ughelli-Benin line had collapsed entirely, with the vandal’s body pinned between the fallen tower members.
TCN said further inspection revealed that Tower 101 on the adjacent Ughelli – Sapele 330kV transmission line had also been seriously vandalized, adding that the tower was still standing as at the time of this report.
In a statement signed by its management, TCN condemnsed the act of vandalism and appealed to host communities and the general public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities around power installations to security agencies and TCN offices nearest to them.
“The fight against the vandalism of power infrastructure is one that must be inclusive. All hands must be on deck for this fight to be won,” the company said.
This incident is a tragic reminder of the extreme dangers of tampering with power infrastructure. Vandalism not only leads to power outages and damage to national assets, it also endangers lives. Protecting power infrastructure is a civic responsibility. Stop the vandals, or they will stop power for us all.
