The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has restored power supply to Maiduguri and its environs, in Borno State.
According to a statement by the Company’s General Manager in charge of Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, circulated on Thursday evening, the feat was achieved on Wednesday, 24th March 2021 at about 3:51pm.
This is a fulfillment of the promise it made a few weeks ago to ensure that alternative arrangements are made to restore power supply to the city while the reconstruction of the damaged towers, which will take a little longer to complete, is on-going.
“Bulk power supply is presently being transmitted through a diversion using 33kV HT poles as by-pass transmission line, constructed by TCN engineers to enable supply to Maiduguri”, the statement said, adding that “effort is also ongoing to reconstruct three vandalised transmission towers along 330kV Damaturu – Maiduguri line.”
“Recall that on 26th of January, 2021, three (3No) towers in Jakana area of Maiduguri were vandalized, which caused power outage in Maiduguri and its environs. Due to the enormity of the damage, and the time it would take to reconstruct the towers, TCN management tasked its engineers to urgently construct a temporary by-pass so that power is restored to the affected areas in the shortest possible time.
On the risks faced by the company’s engineers in the course of delivering the by-pass, the Acting Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of TCN, Engr. Sule Abdulaziz noted that while work was ongoing on the temporary transmission line in the month of February 2021, five of its engineers working on the line were rushed to the hospital when their vehicle drove on an explosive device buried underground by insurgents.
The incident notwithstanding, TCN engineers re-mobilized to site and completed the temporary transmission line. They remain focused and are currently working hard to reinstate the towers.
Engr. Abdulaziz expressed profound gratitude to the Governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Zulum, for his invaluable assistance so far.
He also commended the team of TCN engineers who consistently put their lives on the line to ensure that the 330kV Damaturu – Maiduguri by-pass is completed, even as they continue to work on the three transmission towers that were vandalized.