The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has lamented that it could not meet the May 27th target of restoring power supply to the North-East subregion due to acts of further vandalism.
Ndidi Mbah, GM, Public Affairs of TCN, stated in a release titled The Northh-East: 27th May Timeline and Today’s Tower Collapse Incident’ stated that “other vandalism incidents collapsed three towers along Biu-Dambua 132kV and removed tower members on one tower along Makurdi-Jos 330kV transmission line.”
He stated that “The Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, hereby states that tower number T290, one of the four new towers erected by TCN contractors along the Jos-GGombe 330kV transmission line, collapsed during the cable stringing process.”
According to the release, “The incident occurred at about 7 am, this morning, May 27th, 2024, while the contractor was stringing the cable on the last tower, which was supposed to enable the final jointing of the power cable in time for energising the line today.”
“Despite the security challenges in the area, TCN contractors and some of our engineering staff worked tirelessly to fast-track the project, doing all that was humanly possible to meet the timeline,” he added.
He also stated that “daily, the contractor, TCN Engineers, accompanied by security operatives, consistently left the site by 10 pm in the night and resumed work at 6 am every day.
Ndidi Mbah added that constructing towers and stringing power cables at such heights is highly technical, although TCN contractors and staff have successfully completed similar projects in other parts of the country.”
He added that “the collapse of the fourth tower is a significant setback, given the extensive efforts to ensure that today’s power restoration timeline was met.”
He stressed that “our contractor is currently dismantling the collapsed tower members to enable its reconstruction and final restringing of the cable.”
According to him, “It is unfortunate to note that while TCN is working on reconstructing and restringing the four vandalised towers, three towers along the Biu-DDambua 132kV transmission line were also vandalised with 16 spans of conductors stolen.”
He stated that “the towers, which have all collapsed, include towers T1690, T1691, and T1692. TCN has mobilised a contractor to commence their reconstruction. This discovery was made by the TCN patrol team last Friday.”
“Additionally, this morning, the TCN lines patrol team discovered that tower T540 along the Makurdi-JJos 330kV double circuit transmission line has been vandalised. Sections of the tower have been removed, although the tower remains standing. TCN has contracted emergency repairs to prevent its collapse,” he further stated.
The TCN GM of Public Affairs assured, stating, “We reiterate our commitment to restoring normal bulk power supply through the distribution companies serving the North East and other areas affected by vandalism.”
“There is, however, an urgent need for everyone to join hands with TCN in protecting our collective assets by being vigilant and reporting any suspected acts of tower and line vandalism promptly,” he concluded.
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