….Gombe residents in darkness
From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), yesterday reported the vandalism of its four towers along the Jos – Gombe 330kV transmission line, so throwing the people in those areas into darkness.
The is about the fourth time in four months TCN is reporting such incidences.
The same vandalism took place on December, 21, 2023, which caused the failure of power supply to parts of the North East, namely, Yobe and Borno States.
Just after that, TCN reported in February 2024 that towers along the Gombe – Damaturu 330kV had been brought down.
Three days later, TCN reported that vandals destroyed its towers 330kV Gwagwalada -Katampe Transmission line.
Again, the company has said that vandals destroyed its four towers along the Jos – Gombe 330kV transmission line.
According to the General Manager, Public Affairs of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Ndidi Mbah, when the 330kV transmission line tripped, its operators attempted to restore it to service but it tripped again, prompting the dispatch of TCN linesmen to trace the line in order to detect and rectify the fault.
While fault tracing, TCN’s engineering crew discovered that
towers 288, 289 , 290, and 291 were vandalised and that some tower members were carted away. Also, the towers had equally collapsed as a result of the incident.
“Presently, bulk power supply to Gombe, Yola, and Jalingo substations have been disrupted, affecting bulk power supply to parts of Yola and Jos Electricity Distribution Companies’ franchise areas.
“To mitigate the effect of the incident on electricity consumers affected by the incident, TCN is trying to first backfeed Gombe through its 132kV transmission line from Bauchi and subsequently Ashaka, Potiskum, Damaturu, and Billiri/ Savannah.
“We will do everything possible to ensure that supply is restored to the affected areas, while efforts are made to reconstruct the four vandalised towers” she assured.