The federal government on Wednesday announced the restoration of electricity supply to the North-east, months after suspected terrorists attacked key transmission infrastructure in the region.
Last month, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) had said it was working to fix the power problem and would restore full supply by May 27. But that was not to be.
A statement by the General Manager, Public Affairs of the company, Ndidi Mbah, stated that one of the towers attacked was nearing 80 per cent completion, another at 60 per cent and a third was at 30 per cent completion.
The tower collapse, TCN said, affected Gombe, Damaturu, Maiduguri, Yola, Bauchi and Jalingo. It said that the restoration of power was no longer possible as planned as a result of unforeseen circumstances beyond the control of the company.
“The Transmission Company of Nigeria hereby states that tower number T290, one of the four new towers erected by TCN contractors along the Jos – Gombe 330kV transmission line collapsed during the cable stringing process.
“The incident occurred at about 7am, this morning (Monday), May 27, 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 of the line today,” the statement added.
Many of the power assets in the North-east region had for long come under attacks by terrorists who destroy them randomly, thereby throwing the zone into incessant darkness.
But the TCN statement announcing the restoration of power to the region on Wednesday stated that it can now wheel normal load allocation to the area for onward distribution to the North-east.
“The Jos-Gombe 330kV Single Circuit Transmission line has been restored. Bulk supply was restored through the line yesterday, 4th of June 2024, at 9:37 pm.
“The line now wheels normal load allocation from the National Control Centre, (NCC) to transmission substations in the North-east and to distribution load centres for Kano and Jos Discos to offtake and distribute to its customers in the North East.
“We are thankful of every assistance rendered by the governors in the North-east and patience displayed by all the affected electricity consumers. Our gratitude also goes to the security operatives who always escorted our contractor and staff to the sites of the incidents as well as the contractor and TCN engineers who quickly mobilised to site at a very short notice,” it stated.
The TCN appealed to residents in communities hosting or close to power installations to be vigilant, and to report any act or suspicion of vandalism to security operatives.
“This would help us quickly arrest the situation, so as to preserve our power transmission towers and lines nationwide,” the TCN stated.
Emmanuel Addeh
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