The presidential Villa, National Assembly and other federal government offices, as well as private Business premises have been thrown into darkness after vandals stole underground cables supplying electricity to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
The vandals, as learnt, carted away with 40 meters of the transmission cable without hinderance from security agencies, throwing over 60 % of the Abuja power supply.
Major areas affected by the operation carried out around the Millennium park axis of the territory includes, Maitama, Wuse, Jabi, Life Camp, Utako, Mabusi and, Asokoro where the Aso Rock Villa is situated.
This development was disclosed by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) on Friday after the transmission power lines supplying electricity to several government institutions and organizations were vandalized.
As gathered, this incident occurred hours after the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) apprehended 37 scavengers for vandalizing properties across Abuja, prompting the command boss, Olusola Odumosu, to ban these activities in the territory.
According to a statement issued by TCN’s Public Affairs Officer, Ndidi Mbah, the transmission company has mobilized engineers to the site where the incident occurred to repair the disrupted cables.
The statement reads, “The Transmission Company of Nigeria wishes to inform the public that its 132kV transmission line and underground cables taking power to Central Area and environs in Abuja have been vandalized, causing power outage”
“The vandalized 132kV underground cable transports bulk electricity to TCN’s 132kV Central Area Transmission Substation, which then supplies power through 8No. distribution feeders to AEDC for onward supply to its customers in Central Area and environs”
“The incident, which was carried out around the Millennium Park axis of Abuja, has affected over 60% of the power supply to Abuja as the vandals carted away 40 meters of 1x500mm² XLPE conductors on the 2 numbers 132kV transmission lines”
“Consequently, areas experiencing power outage include Maitama, Wuse, Jabi, Life Camp, Asokoro, Utako and Mabushi.TCN engineers have already been mobilized to the site of the incident to repair the vandalized cables”
“We enjoin Nigerians to be vigilant in observing and reporting suspicious activities to security operatives. We must work together to protect our transmission equipment and installations. This is very crucial to the development of the nation’s power sector”.
