Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
Several parts of Abuja were thrown into darkness yesterday after a truck hit a transmission tower owned by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), which supplies power to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The TCN in a statement last night signed by its General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, explained that the vehicle which lost control crashed into TCN’s 132kV tower at about 2.55 pm.
“Transmission Company of Nigeria hereby states that it is working assiduously to put in place a bypass from the Katampe Substation to the GIS substation in the Central Area to restore power supply to the area and environs.
“The current restricted outage situation in parts of Abuja, is caused by a truck loaded with gravel that lost control and crashed into TCN’s 132kV transmission tower No 20, supplying bulk electricity to the 100MVA part of the Katampe Substation and 2x60MVA GIS Central Area Substation,” it stated.
The company added that the incident brought down the tower, but stressed that it did not lead to any record of loss of life. “Attempts are being made by TCN engineers to remove the conductors presently lying on the road to ensure ease of movement around the area,” it added.
According to the organisation, TCN engineers were on the site of the incident and were already assessing the level of damage and attempting to put in place remedial installation in the form of a temporary by-pass to restore electricity supply to the affected areas.
It added that consequent upon the incident, there was restricted outage in Maitama, Wuse, Central Area, and some parts of Garki.
Meanwhile, it noted that every effort was being made to put in place a remedial source of supply, assuring affected customers that it will work round the clock to ensure that restoration was quickly achieved, after which it would commence the dismantling and reconstruction of a new transmission tower to replace the damaged one.
“TCN assures that its engineering lines crew are making every effort to restore power supply and notes that supply will be restored as soon as possible, ”it said.
