The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says Tower T99 along the Ughelli/Benin 330 kilovolt (kV) transmission line collapsed due to vandalism.

Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s spokesperson, in a statement on Friday, said the incident was discovered during a line patrol at Coconut Village, Effurun Local Government Area, Warri, following a line trip.

Ms Mbah said that upon inspection by TCN’s linesman, it was observed that the fallen tower had some of its bracing members vandalised and carted away, which led to its collapse.

She said the adjoining towers, T100 and T101, were also vandalised, although they remained standing.

”As a result, there is a temporary disruption in the evacuation of bulk power supply from Transcorp Power Plc to the national grid through the Benin 330kV transmission line.

”However, TCN has commenced the mobilisation of resources to facilitate the reconstruction, restoration, and reinforcement of the vandalised towers and affected transmission line as soon as possible.

”We reiterate that vandalism poses a serious threat to the stability of the nation’s transmission system and urge host communities to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities around transmission installations to security operatives or the nearest TCN office,” she said.

According to her, the fight against the vandalism of power infrastructure is a collective responsibility.

“We call on all stakeholders to join hands in protecting these critical national assets from further attacks,” she added.

(NAN)