The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has announced that six transmission towers along the Apir-Lafia transmission line in Nasarawa State were destroyed by vandals, resulting in major disruptions to electricity supply in parts of the country.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, June 3, TCN’s General Manager of Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, said the incident occurred in the early hours of May 30 during a heavy downpour. According to Mbah, the transmission line tripped at about 1:15 a.m., prompting operators to initiate a trial reclosure of Line II at approximately 2:08 a.m. However, the attempt was unsuccessful.
The failed reclosure led to a physical inspection of the transmission corridor, during which engineers discovered extensive damage to critical components of towers T125 to T130. “The findings confirmed that the towers were vandalised,” the statement said.
Mbah disclosed that both Apir-Lafia 330kV transmission lines I and II remain out of service pending the reconstruction of the affected towers. “As a result of the incident, both Apir-Lafia 330kV transmission lines I and II remain out of service pending the reconstruction of the affected towers,” she stated.
She added that TCN engineers had been deployed to the site to assess the extent of the damage and determine the materials required for repairs and restoration of normal transmission along the corridor.
To mitigate the impact of the outage, Mbah said the Lafia 330kV Transmission Station is currently being supplied through the Lafia–Jos transmission line. “Meanwhile, the Lafia 330kV Transmission Station is being supplied through the Lafia–Jos transmission line as a temporary measure,” she said.
The temporary arrangement is expected to help maintain electricity supply to customers within the coverage areas of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company and Jos Electricity Distribution Company. The TCN spokesperson condemned the repeated vandalism of electricity infrastructure, warning that such activities threaten the stability of the national grid and undermine investments in the power sector.
She urged residents and host communities to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities around transmission facilities to security agencies or the nearest TCN office. “Collective action is essential to protect national grid assets and ensure reliable power supply,” Mbah added.