The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has reported a new incident of vandalism affecting its 330kV Lokoja-Gwagwalada transmission line, disrupting power restoration efforts following previous attacks. This was disclosed in a statement released by Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s General Manager of Public Affairs, on Sunday.
The attack occurred in the early hours of Saturday, November 9, 2024, with vandals damaging transmission towers T306, T307, and T308. According to the TCN, attempts to re-energize the Lokoja-Gwagwalada transmission line one failed when the line tripped. A dispatched patrol team discovered that the transmission towers had been vandalized and that two spans of aluminium conductors were stolen.
“The Lokoja-Gwagwalada line is a double-circuit line, and while TCN continues to supply bulk power via line two, we are working to replace the stolen conductors from line one,” the statement read. TCN highlighted that this latest act is part of an increasing trend of attacks on critical power infrastructure, including multiple incidents this year affecting transmission lines in the Gwagwalada area alone.
The statement noted, “Recent attacks in Gwagwalada include the Gwagwalada–Kukuwaba–Apo line in December 2023 and the Gwagwalada–Katampe line in February 2024. These repeated incidents are severely impacting the stability and growth of the national grid.”
TCN appealed to communities hosting power installations to collaborate with TCN and security operatives to curb these acts, emphasizing that vandalism “undermines efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s transmission system.”
