The Transmission Company of Nigeria has announced that Bayelsa State will face a lengthy outage as a result of the recent destruction of 13 transmission towers along the Ahoada-Yenagoa 132kV Double Circuit transmission line.
The blackout would also impact several villages in Rivers State.
A team lead by Emmanuel Akpa, the General Manager of the Port Harcourt Transmission area, arrived at the site and discovered that all 13 towers from T52 to T64 had been vandalised.
Nine of these towers have collapsed totally, while four are poorly balanced and could collapse at any time, according to a statement made on Wednesday by Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs.
According to the statement, the Youth President of the Ukpeli Community in Rivers State reported the occurrence on August 12, 2024.
According to the statement, the Ahoada-Yenagoa 132kV Double Circuit Transmission line is vital for transferring power from the Ahoada Transmission Substation to the Yenagoa Substation, which provides electricity to the entire Bayelsa State.Given the scope of the tower destruction and the ongoing work on previously vandalised transmission towers, TCN may need several months to finish the rebuilding and stringing of the towers in order to restore power to the state.”
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of TCN, Sule Abdulaziz, described the incident “as a national disaster” as he urged the governments of Rivers and Bayelsa states to assist TCN to curb the vandalism of its installations which has been “increasingly alarming and overwhelming.”
Abdulaziz noted that TCN had “recently responded to the vandalism and subsequent collapse of towers T97 to T99 on the same line route on July 29, 2024, with work still ongoing to rebuild the vandalised towers.
“Additionally, a new contract was recently awarded for the reinforcement of towers 19-31 on the Ahoada-Yenagoa line, where tower members had been vandalised and stolen,” adding that “despite these ongoing efforts, the recent vandalism of the 13 towers presents a significant challenge.”
According to the statement, the 13 vandalised towers are located in several communities, including Okobe in Ahoada East, Emezhi 1 in Ahoada West, and Mbiama in Ahoada West Local Government Areas of Rivers State, as well as the Igbogene community in Bayelsa State.
TCN urged the public, including security operatives, host communities, traditional rulers, state governments, and all stakeholders to assist in the fight against vandalism of power facilities.