By Gloria Akudoro
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has disclosed that Tower T99 along the Ughelli/Benin 330kV Transmission Line collapsed on March 15, 2026, as a result of vandalism.
TCN made this known in a statement issued on Thursday by its General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, stating that the incident was discovered during a line patrol at Coconut Village, Effurun LGA, Warri, Delta State, following a line trip.
According to the statement, 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. The adjoining towers, T100 and T101, were also vandalised although they remain 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 revealed that mobilisation of resources has commenced to facilitate the reconstruction, restoration, and reinforcement of the vandalised towers and affected transmission line as soon as possible.
The company reiterated that vandalism poses a serious threat to the stability of the nation’s transmission system and urged host communities to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities around transmission installations to security operatives or the nearest TCN office.
It advocates that the fight against the vandalism of power infrastructure is a collective responsibility and calls on all stakeholders to join hands in protecting these critical national assets from further attacks.
