The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has announced a brief power interruption in parts of Abuja and an urgent reconstruction effort along the Ikot Abasi–Eket transmission corridor following separate maintenance and vandalism incidents.
Customers of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) in Wuse Zones 1–7, Utako, Jahi, Jabi, the Central Business District, parts of Maitama and Mpape will experience a 30-minute outage on Saturday, August 15, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
TCN said the interruption is necessary to allow its maintenance crew to reconnect the newly installed 330kV Busbar 1 disconnector switch of the 75Mvar System Shunt Reactor to the 330kV Busbar 2 at the Katampe 330/132/33kV Transmission Substation.
The wider maintenance operation is scheduled to run until 6:00 p.m., although affected customers are expected to be without power only during the switching operation.
In a separate statement, the transmission company disclosed that five towers on the Ikot Abasi–Eket 132kV Double Circuit Transmission Line collapsed after critical structural members were removed in what it described as severe vandalism.
The damage was discovered during a joint routine patrol on August 9. TCN said Towers N9, J4, N10, N11 and N12 had collapsed, while seven other towers—J3, N8, N13, N14, N15, N18 and N19—were also found to be structurally compromised after their members were stolen.
The company has reconfigured the network to prioritize electricity supply to Ekim Transmission Station, leaving Ibom Power as the only station currently without supply.
TCN said it is mobilizing an urgent intervention to rebuild the damaged sections and has notified security agencies to investigate the incident and prevent further attacks along the route.
The transmission company apologized to Abuja consumers for the planned interruption and condemned the vandalism, warning that the theft of tower components poses a serious threat to the stability and reliability of electricity supply.
