Vandalised transmission towers threaten electricity supply in Delta

Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) on Tuesday said the vandalisation of six of its towers would threaten the supply of power in Delta State.

This was made known in a statement issued in Abuja by the General Manager, Public Affairs of TCN, Ndidi Mbah.

She said the collapse of tower Number 61 on Delta-Benin line had forced the company to evacuate power through Delta — Sapele-Benin 330KV transmission line alone.

She explained that although the collapsed tower had not affected power evacuation, transmission lines redundancy had been affected until the second line would be restored.

Mbah said, “TCN hereby states that six power transmission towers along the Delta — Benin and Delta — Sapele — Benin 330kV transmission line routes have been vandalised and some of their tower members removed. This, coupled with the heavy rainfall of March 17th caused the collapse of tower Number 61 alone.

“As soon as the transmission line tripped, a lines’ patrol team was dispatched to investigate the cause and investigations revealed that tower Number 61 had collapsed and aluminium conductors from the tower were on the ground.

Read also: 335 tuberculosis related deaths recorded in Kano in 2018

“The patrol team also discovered that tower members of five other towers including the tower directly opposite tower 61 on the Ughelli — Benin line route were missing.”

She noted that the Delta-Benin and Delta-Sapele-Benin 330kV transmission lines evacuated power from Transcorp Power Limited, Ughelli into the national grid, noting that TCN had been facing the challenge of repeated attacks by vandals on this axis since December 2018.

She added that a formal report had been made to security operatives and to traditional rulers in the area, including the King of Okpeland and the Ovie of Oghara, who had held meetings with their subjects to address the menace but to no avail.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now