Vandals disrupt ongoing repairs on Ahoada-Yenagoa 132kV line – TCN

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says vandals have again disrupted the repair work of its Ahoada-Yenagoa 132 Kilovolt (kV) line, which is currently under repair due to previous vandalism.

This is contained in a statement by Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs, on Friday in Abuja.

Mrs Mbah said the second attack, which affected towers 29 to 31 and resulted in the theft of approximately one-third of the conductor, occurred on Tuesday.

She said a team of TCN engineers, led by Emmanuel Akpa, the general manager of the Port Harcourt Region, had inspected the site.

Mrs Mbah said that the preliminary findings indicated that the incident occurred on Tuesday night.

“In order to prevent further theft while repairs are being made, local security has been engaged at Ula Ikata in Ahoada East Local Government Area, Rivers State, to secure the site until repairs are completed.

“Additionally, the line will be energised from the Ahoada end as a preventive measure.

“Efforts to replace the stolen 250mm conductor are currently underway. In spite of challenges posed by difficult terrain and flooding.

“The restringing of the Ahoada-Yenagoa 132kV line is approximately 85 per cent completed,” she said.

Mrs Mbah said that earlier in November, vandals had attacked the transmission towers in the Okada and Ofosu Communities along the 330kV Benin-Egbin and Benin-Omotosho transmission lines.

“A total of 31 towers were affected in this incident before the second attack recorded on 19 November,” she said.

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She said that TCN linesmen discovered the vandalised towers, which suffered significant damage and had critical components removed, during a routine patrol.

“TCN engineers from the Benin Sub-Region had initiated repairs to prevent the collapse of the affected towers and to avoid disruption of bulk power supply.

“These incidents underscore the urgent need to combat the growing problem of vandalism and theft affecting Nigeria’s power infrastructure.

“TCN calls on the public to support efforts to address these crimes, which have significantly hampered the expansion and stability of the national grid,” she said.

(NAN)