According to a study by the federal government-owned electric utility company Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), the federal government had to spend N29.3 billion to fix 266 vandalised power towers around the country. Over 34 months, from January 2022 to October 2024, these accidents led to power outages and inaccessibilities throughout the federation.
TCN’s monthly bulletin and news reports, which were made public on Monday, state that vandals had demolished 266 electricity transmission towers around the nation. Transmission towers in Benin, Lagos, Kano, Enugu, Bauchi, Port Harcourt, and Abuja regions were vandalized. TCN has in-house engineers working on some of the damaged towers and contracts out repairs for others.
According to a more thorough examination of the record, 90 towers were destroyed in 2022, which increased by 23.3% to 111 towers in 2023. Between January and October 27, 2024, there have been 65 instances of vandalism against electrical towers this year. In 2022, 16 towers beneath Kano-Kankia Line One sustained damage, and 21 towers on the 132kV Kano-Kankia transmission Line 2 were demolished. Similarly, among other things, 19 towers on the double-circuit transmission line between Makurdi and Jos were vandalized.
Thirteen towers on the 132kV Ahoada-Yenagoa transmission line and fifteen towers on the 132kV Owerri-Ahaoda transmission line in Port Harcourt suffered vandalism in 2023. In addition, 244 galvanised bolts, nuts, copper cable lugs, and 122 earthen conductors were taken from the other towers. The cost of repairing each vandalised tower is approximately N110 million.
Towers 377 and 378 on the 330kV Gombe-Damaturu line along Bauchi/Gombe and Damaturu, as well as Tower 388 on the 132kV Jos-Bauchi line on the Bauchi/Yelwa single circuit transmission line, collapsed during the first ten months of 2024. Towers 125, 126, 193, 194, and 195 were among the other collapses on the 330kV Damaturu-Maiduguri line that were reported.
Towers 450, 452, 453, and 455 on the 132kV line in the Bauchi-Gombe area were vandalised, according to the study, and Tower 70 on the 330kV Gwagwalada-Katampe line in Abuja had four of its footings removed. Additionally, tower members from towers 288 to 291 of the 330kV Jos-Gombe line were taken down by vandals. Vandalism continues to erode power generation advances, making it difficult for the government to guarantee a steady supply of electricity throughout the nation.
According to officials from the TCN, which oversees the country’s electrical infrastructure, the widespread damage has had a major effect on the availability of electricity in the damaged areas. The national grid has collapsed 162 times in the past 11 years, according to a report released just last week to the BrandSpur national news stories desk by the Association of Power Generating Companies. The bulk electrical supply to Kaduna, Kano, and other major northern cities has been reduced as a result of the vandalized Shiroro-Kaduna line, which TCN said it is working with the Office of the National Security Adviser to fix.
Despite ongoing security issues, TCN is making every effort to restore the bulk power supply as soon as feasible, according to a previous statement from Ndidi Mbah, General Manager of Public Affairs. Additionally, TCN refuted rumours that sections of Northern Nigeria would experience an ongoing power outage.
Furthering, the statement partly reads: “The current outage affecting Northern states for several days now is a result of vandalism of the Shiroro-Mando transmission line—a critical infrastructure that supplies electricity to the region. Prevailing insecurity in the area has delayed the immediate repairs necessary to restore supply. However, as a temporary measure, TCN has rerouted bulk power supply through the Ugwuaji-Apir 330kV line, which recently snapped.
“TCN has been collaborating closely with the Office of the National Security Adviser to enable our engineers to access the vandalism site and effect the necessary repairs. This is vital to ensure the safety of lives during the repairs.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to overcoming these challenges because we understand the importance of electricity in the socio-economic lives of the people and the extreme inconveniences this situation is causing the government and all electricity customers in the affected areas.
“We pledge not to relent in doing everything possible to rectify the problems and restore power supply to the affected areas,” it added.
