The northern region of Nigeria is marking its eighth consecutive day without electricity.
The outage was triggered last Monday after the tripping off of the 330kV circuit transmission line between Benue and Enugu.
The transmission line between Shiroro and Kaduna was also affected, affecting Kano, Gombe, Kebbi, Jos, Kaduna, Benue, Bauchi, Adamawa, Taraba, Borno, Kwara, Nasarawa and Yobe.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has acknowledged the ongoing outage, assuring residents that they are taking “every possible measure” to restore power to the Northern region.
According to the company, the 330kV DC Ugwaji-Apir double circuit tripped due to a fault.
The latest fault in the 330kV DC transmission line occurred just days after Nigeria experienced three national grid collapses within a single week.
The TCN on Sunday said it is doing everything possible to restore power in Northern Nigeria.
The company attributed delays in restoration to infrastructure challenges worsened by vandalism and insecurity.
TCN in a statement by its spokesman, Ndidi Mbah, said it is working with the Office of the National Security Adviser to repair the vandalised Shiroro-Kaduna line that led to a reduction of bulk electricity to Kaduna, Kano and other major cities in the north.
Mbah, TCN’s General Manager of Public Affairs, said the company is confident that the bulk power supply will be restored as quickly as possible.
“TCN would like to state categorically that it is working diligently to restore bulk power supply as quickly as possible despite prevailing security challenges,” the statement read.
“The Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line, which supplies power to Northern Nigeria, was vandalized by insurgents & in response, TCN has partnered with the National Security Adviser’s office to secure the area, enabling her engineers to work safely on the restoration.”
According to the statement, TCN Executive Director (Independent System Operator), Engr. (Mrs) Nafisatu Ali noted that deploying engineers without security support is not feasible, given the risks in the region.
She dispelled any suggestion that restoration would be indefinite, stressing that TCN’s focus remains on ensuring an even supply of electricity nationwide and that security arrangements were underway.
“The current outage affecting Northern states for several days now is a result of vandalism of the Shiroro-Mando transmission line, a critical infrastructure that supplies electricity to the region. Prevailing insecurity in the area has delayed the immediate repair necessary to restore supply.
“However, as a temporary measure, TCN had rerouted bulk power supply through the Ugwuaji-Apir 330kV line, which recently snapped. TCN has been collaborating closely with the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) to work with our engineers to access the vandalism site to enable them to effect necessary repairs. This is vital to ensure the safety of lives during the repairs,” the statement concluded.
