Key points
- Vandals destroyed six transmission towers on the Apir-Lafia transmission line in Nasarawa State, causing severe power supply disruptions.
- The incident occurred on May 30 at about 1.15 am during a downpour.
- Physical line tracing revealed critical component damage to towers T125 to T130, confirming acts of vandalism on the transmission corridor.
- Both Apir–Lafia 330kV Transmission Lines I and II remain completely out of service pending structural reconstruction.
- The Lafia 330kV Transmission Station is being supplied through the Lafia–Jos transmission line as a temporary measure.
Main Story
Vandals have destroyed six transmission towers along the Apir–Lafia 330kV transmission line in Nasarawa State, causing significant disruption to electricity supply, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has said.
TCN disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by its General Manager, Public Affairs, Mrs Ndidi Mbah. It stated that the incident occurred on May 30 at about 1:15 a.m. during a heavy downpour.
The company said a trial reclosure of Line II was carried out at 2:08 a.m. after an initial tripping, but the effort failed.
It added that a subsequent line inspection revealed damage to critical components of towers T125 to T130, confirming that the transmission infrastructure had been vandalised.
TCN stated that both the Apir–Lafia 330kV transmission Lines I and II were currently out of service, pending reconstruction of the affected towers.
The company condemned the repeated vandalism of power infrastructure, saying it undermines years of investment in the national power sector.
It appealed to host communities and members of the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities around transmission installations to security agencies or the nearest TCN office.
TCN also stressed that collective action was necessary to protect national grid assets and ensure stable electricity supply across the country.
The Issues
- Combating the continuous vandalism of power transmission infrastructure that undermines years of capital investment in the sector.
- Reconstructing six collapsed high-voltage transmission towers to bring major power paths back online.
- Minimizing the widespread impact of bulk power supply outages on electricity customers across multiple regional distribution franchise areas.
What’s Next
- TCN engineers will assess the site damage and ascertain the specific materials required to commence full restoration along the corridor.
- Grid operators will maintain power routing through the Lafia–Jos transmission line as a temporary measure to feed the Lafia station.
- Distribution companies like AEDC and JEDC will work to manage electricity delivery within their franchise areas using alternative supply lines.
Bottom Line
The Transmission Company of Nigeria has deployed engineering teams to reconstruct towers T125 through T130 on the Apir-Lafia 330kV corridor after targeted vandalism during a storm cut off both main lines, forcing the company to temporarily route grid supply through Jos to mitigate disruptions across regional distribution networks.
