Kaduna residents have been left in total darkness following the vandalism of two towers belonging to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) along its 330kV Shiroro–Kaduna transmission lines by bandits.

The incident occurred days after damage to the national grid had already plunged the entire country into darkness.

Ndidi Mbah, the General Manager of Public Affairs at TCN, released a statement on Friday detailing the situation.

He said, “According to reports from the Shiroro Regional office of TCN, the 330kV transmission line one tripped first, followed shortly by the second. As efforts were still ongoing to reclose the first line, this prompted the urgent mobilization of local vigilantes to patrol the lines.”

“This led to the discovery of two damaged towers, towers T133 and T136, with their cables badly damaged at several points.”

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Mbah noted that arrangements are underway to deploy the newly procured “emergency restoration system” to the site while reconstruction of the damaged towers is planned. An aerial survey has also been conducted in collaboration with security operatives, as the area has proven vulnerable to banditry, posing significant threats to TCN installations and personnel.

In the meantime, engineers have implemented a temporary measure to supply bulk power to the Kaduna and Kano regions via the 330kV Kaduna–Jos transmission line. The vandalized Shiroro–Kaduna 330kV lines are crucial for transmitting bulk power to parts of the North West region, with each line capable of carrying 600MW.

The vandalism of these towers and transmission lines presents a significant challenge to power transmission in the region.

Mbah stressed TCN’s commitment to restoring power transmission by re-erecting the towers and restringing the transmission lines.