Dozens of traders and residents who erected buildings and shops under the Transmission Company of Nigeria transmission lines at the Egor Market narrowly escaped death as the power lines exploded and gutted in flames.

Residents and traders fled for their lives as the transmission lines continued to spark fire but were later seen praying after the fire was put out.

Reacting to the incident in a statement, the TCN General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, said the incident caused  disruption at the Benin-Egbin 330KV and  the Benin-Omotoso 330KV transmission lines.

According to him, the fire caused the national grid to experience voltage instability which spread across the Lagos corridor, leading to the loss of some generating stations, causing transmission line outages, and subsequent interruption of electricity supply to Lagos and its environs.

He said the National Control Centre instructed several generators to reduce output in order to arrest the resulting frequency rise, stabilize the system, and prevent further disruption to the national grid.

Mbah said the Benin –Egbin 330kV transmission line has been restored and currently transmitting bulk electricity.

She stated that a combined team of TCN engineers from Benin and Omotoso subregions were working to rectify the remaining faults on the 330kV Benin – Omotoso transmission line to ensure full restoration of bulk power supply to the Lagos complex as quickly as possible.

The statement partly reads: “We deeply regret the inconvenience and discomfort this incident has caused residents, businesses, and all electricity customers in the affected areas. Please be assured that the Ministry of Power and all relevant agencies are doing everything possible to rectify the line, to enable normal bulk power transmission along the affected line.

“Our goal is to stabilize and strengthen the national grid, with the aim of minimising such recurrence.

“We urge all affected consumers to please exercise patience as we work to restore bulk power supply through the Benin – Omotoso transmission line. Updates will be provided as restoration progresses.”