Blackout in Bayelsa as vandals destroy transmission towers

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says two transmission towers were destroyed by vandals along the Ahoada-Yenagoa 132KV line in the Igbooghene community of Bayelsa.

The towers are T98 and T99, Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s general manager of public affairs, said in a statement on Friday.

Mbah said the incident caused the collapse of both towers, cutting off power supply to Bayelsa including TCN’s Yenagoa substation and the Gbarain power station.

The TCN said Yenagoa Metropolis and the entire Bayelsa are currently still without power supply.

“Our engineers, led by the general manager transmission, Port Harcourt region, Engr. Emmanuel Akpa and accompanied by men from the DSS have inspected the site of the vandalized towers,” TCN said.

“Plans are already ongoing to mobilize a contractor on an emergency basis to reconstruct the collapsed towers.

“This follows an incident on June 16, 2024, where an individual was caught vandalizing tower T238 along the Owerri-Ahoada 132kV double circuit transmission lines. Another act of vandalism occurred on June 10, 2024, at the Ahoada Transmission Substation.

“TCN is urging the public to help in the ongoing fight against the vandalism of power infrastructure nationwide.

“The company will continue to collaborate with security operatives and host communities including the DSS and Civil Defence Corps to combat the menace.”

Mbah said the company is interfacing with stakeholders including security operatives in Yenagoa to put in place other initiatives geared towards helping TCN to curtail the menace within the state.

The TCN also said it will continue to work towards a robust grid, adding that “a nation’s power sector cannot grow efficiently if funds intended for infrastructural expansion are repeatedly used to replace vandalised equipment”.

On March 23, the house of representatives asked the TCN to fix the power transmission substation in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa state.

Oboku Offor, a lawmaker from Bayelsa, had moved the motion that 132/33KV transmission substation serving Yenagoa and its environs was gutted by fire on September 23, 2023, throwing the area into “total darkness”.

He said since then, the state has been “struggling to use only a feeder to supply five feeders”.