Precious Anga
Lagos — The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has confirmed the vandalisation of six transmission towers along the Apir–Lafia 330kV transmission line in Nasarawa State, an incident that has disrupted power supply and forced critical sections of the national grid out of service.
TCN disclosed that the affected towers, identified as T125 to T130, were damaged by vandals, leaving both circuits of the strategic transmission corridor unavailable and impacting electricity delivery to customers across parts of the North-Central region.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by its General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, the company said the incident came to light after a fault was recorded on the transmission line at about 1:15 a.m. on May 30 during a period of heavy rainfall.
According to TCN, operators immediately initiated efforts to restore supply and carried out a trial reclosure of one of the affected lines shortly after 2:00 a.m. However, the restoration attempt was unsuccessful, prompting a detailed inspection of the transmission route.
The subsequent investigation revealed extensive damage to critical components across six towers. TCN said technical assessments confirmed that the infrastructure had been deliberately vandalised, raising fresh concerns over the persistent attacks on power assets nationwide.
Engineers have since been mobilised to the site to evaluate the extent of the damage and determine the materials and resources required for reconstruction. The company said work is underway to restore the affected infrastructure and return the transmission line to service as quickly as possible.
To minimise the impact of the outage, TCN explained that the Lafia 330kV Transmission Station is currently being supplied through the Lafia–Jos transmission route. The temporary arrangement is expected to support electricity delivery to customers served by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC) while repair works continue.
The transmission operator warned that repeated vandalism of electricity infrastructure poses a serious threat to investments in the power sector and undermines ongoing efforts to improve grid stability and expand electricity access across the country.
TCN therefore called on host communities, security agencies and other stakeholders to work together in protecting critical national assets. The company urged residents to promptly report suspicious activities around transmission facilities, stressing that safeguarding power infrastructure remains essential to achieving a more reliable and sustainable electricity supply for Nigerians.
