Heavy Downpour, Vandals Destroy TCN Six Transmission Towers, Franchise Areas Thrown Into Blackout

*A transmission tower 

The Transmission Company of Nigeria  (TCN) has suffered huge infrastructure disaster following a heavy downpour which pulled down its six transmission towers subsequently vandalized by vandals.

The six transmission towers affected are from T125 to T130 located along Apir–Lafia 330kV Transmission Lines I and II, according to a statement by TCN General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah.

The destruction of the towers has  caused blackout in franchise areas of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC) even as TCN has effected temporary measure to minimise the impact of the outage on affected electricity customers within the franchise areas.

According to Mbah, “The collapse occurred at about 1:15 a.m. on 30th May 2026, during a heavy downpour. Trial reclosure of these line II was made at 2:08 am following the initial tripping and failed.

“The tripping of lines prompted a physical line trace to determine the fault which revealed damage to critical components of towers T125 to T130, confirming acts of vandalism on the affected sections of the transmission corridor.

“As a result, both Apir–Lafia 330kV Transmission Lines I and II remain out of service pending reconstruction of the affected towers. TCN engineers have been mobilized to site to access the extent of damage and ascertain materials required to commence to restore normal transmission along the corridor.

“Meanwhile, the Lafia 330kV Transmission Station is being supplied through the Lafia–Jos transmission line as a temporary measure to minimise the impact of the outage on affected electricity customers within the franchise areas of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC).”

Further, TCN strongly condemned the continued vandalisation of power transmission infrastructure which undermines years of investment in the sector as the incident directly affects electricity supply to communities within the franchise areas of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company and Jos Electricity Distribution Company.

“We appeal to host communities and the general public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities around transmission installations to security agencies or the nearest TCN office. Collective action is essential to protect national grid assets and ensure reliable power supply”, she added.