Blackout in Nasarawa as vandals destroy transmission towers
Residents in parts of Nasarawa and surrounding areas face imminent blackout after vandals destroyed six transmission towers along the Apir–Lafia 330kV corridor, disrupting bulk electricity supply from the national grid.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) confirmed that six transmission towers, T125 to T130 on the Apir–Lafia 330kV Transmission Lines I and II, were vandalised in the early hours of 30th May 2026 during a heavy downpour.
The collapse was first detected at about 1:15 a.m. when the line tripped, while a trial reclosure of Line II at 2:08 a.m. failed, prompting a physical inspection of the route which later revealed damage to critical components of towers T125 to T130 and confirmed acts of vandalism along the transmission corridor.
As a result, both Apir–Lafia 330kV Transmission Lines I and II have been taken out of service pending the reconstruction of the damaged towers, while TCN engineers have been mobilised to site to assess the extent of the damage and determine the materials required to restore transmission along the corridor.
Meanwhile, the Lafia 330kV Transmission Station is currently being supplied through the Lafia–Jos transmission line as a temporary measure to reduce the impact of the outage on electricity customers within the franchise areas of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC).
In a statement released on Wednesday, TCN strongly condemned the continued vandalism of power transmission infrastructure, describing it as a setback to years of investment in the power sector.
“TCN strongly condemns the continued vandalism of power transmission infrastructure as it undermines years of investment in the sector,” the company said.
The agency appealed to host communities and members of the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities around transmission installations to security agencies or the nearest TCN office, stressing that collective action is essential to protect national grid assets and ensure reliable electricity supply.
“We appeal to host communities and the general public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities around transmission installations to security agencies or the nearest TCN office.
“Collective action is essential to protect national grid assets and ensure a reliable power supply”, the statement added.