Vandals destroy 108 transmission towers, FG alleges sabotage

Data acquired from the Transmission Company of Nigeria on Monday showed that between January 2022 and September of this year, vandals demolished 108 power transmission towers around the nation.

The Federal Government labeled the actions as sabotage. It was learned that the vandals wrecked 330kV and 132kV double circuit power transmission wires in addition to excavating earth that threatened transmission towers.

Transmission tower vandalism happened in the regions of Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Enugu, and Benin; however, the government, through TCN, hired outside contractors to rebuild some of the damaged towers.

Additionally, it had sent out transmission firm internal engineers to fix additional vandalized towers.

Nine towers were demolished in the Lagos region during the review period, according to a study of data from the transmission business, while 27 towers in the Abuja zone had been vandalized.

52 transmission towers were vandalized in the Kano area during the review period, while 10 towers were smashed in each of the Enugu Benin regions. This puts the Kano region on record as having the most wrecked transmission towers.

Twice in September, Nigeria’s electrical infrastructure failed, resulting in extensive blackouts in both instances. Customers and the government attributed this to transmission facility destruction and sabotage.

TCN reported that, in 2023 alone, it had documented more than ten vandalism events in various degrees throughout its territories, with a particular focus on assaults on its transmission towers.

“49 towers were vandalized in the Kano region of TCN; 51 in the Osogbo region; 19 in the Abuja region; and 18 in the Enugu region, among others,” the statement read. On May 23, 2023, nine towers along the Papalanto/Abeokuta 132kV transmission line in the Obafemi Owode area of Ogun State collapsed due to extensive vandalism. These towers were Tower 56 through Tower 65.

Because the company had to deliver bulk electricity over a different line to allow Ibadan Disco, a distribution company, to distribute electricity to its clients whose supply was impacted by the incident, Abeokuta and its surroundings were without power for a few days.

“In the same spirit, vandals engaged in frequent vandalism in the TCN Aba sub-region in August 2023, resulting in roughly N23 worth of repairs.” They consist of 244 copper cable lugs, 122 earthing copper conductors, and N366,000 worth of galvanized bolts and nuts that have been taken away.

Owerri Ahoada 132kv DC Line (T199 – T211), IPP/Elelenwo 132kv DC Line (T40, T43, T52, and T53), Owerri/Ahoada 132kv Line (T203 – T217), Ahoada/Yenagoa 132kv Line (T19 – T31), and IPP/Elelenwo 132kv Line (T40) were among the examples of vandalism at the Port Harcourt sub-region.

There has only been one vandalism incident at Uyo Work Center, at Itu T/S, involving an underground wire that was damaged and connected to the generator.

“Vandals attacked towers 30 to 33 along the Ihovbor-Osogbo-Benin-Osogbo double circuit transmission line, cutting the legs of the four towers, but they did not collapse and therefore did not interrupt bulk power transmission on that line,” the statement reads. “The Benin region was not left out of the nefarious acts.”

On June 8, 2023, the TCN reports that while the Benin/Ihovbor/Osogbo 330kV double circuit line tower was being patrolled, the linesmen in the region found that Towers 30 to 34 had been vandalized.

“The tower legs were sawed off and left to collapse, which could have been catastrophic as it could have resulted in the loss of revenue and power supply and increased risk of electrocution,” the statement read.

The administration of TCN denounced the actions of these vandals, claiming that their heinous deeds were saboteurs and had a detrimental effect on the company’s efforts to expand its infrastructure. Furthermore, the vandalized towers would now be replaced using resources that would have been used to further enhance the grid infrastructure.

“TCN is urging host communities to work together in the battle against vandals and cautioning them to report any suspicious activity around transmission towers to local TCN office or security personnel.”

The Nigerian Power Consumers Forum has denounced the recent fire accidents near power transmission equipment as well as the wave of disruptions on the country’s electrical grid on Friday.