Abuja: Vandals Disrupt 60 Percent Of Power Supply, Cart Away 132kV Underground Transmission Cables

Unidentified vandals have struck within Abuja city centre, carting away 132kV underground transmission cables and rendering highbrow areas in darkness.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) disclosed this to the public in a statement, saying that its 132kV transmission line and underground cables taking power to Central Area and environs in Abuja have been vandalised, causing power outage.

Mrs Ndidi Mbah, TCN General Manager, Public Affairs , explained that the vandalised 132kV underground cable transports bulk electricity to TCN’s 132kV Central Area Transmission Substation, which then supplies power through 8No. distribution feeders to AEDC for onward supply to its customers in Central Area and environs.

According to her, “The incident, which was carried out around the Millennium Park axis of Abuja, has affected over 60% of the power supply to Abuja as the vandals carted away 40 meters of 1x500mm² XLPE conductors on the 2 numbers 132kV transmission lines

“Consequently, areas experiencing power outage include Maitama, Wuse, Jabi, Life Camp, Asokoro, Utako and Mabushi.”

However, she said that TCN engineers had already been mobilized to the site of the incident to repair the vandalised cables.

“We enjoin Nigerians to be vigilant in observing and reporting suspicious activities to security operatives. We must work together to protect our transmission equipment and installations. This is very crucial to the development of the nation’s power sector”, she advised.