ABUJA — Five major electricity transmission towers have collapsed in southern Nigeria following what officials described as severe acts of vandalism, the country’s power grid operator has announced.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said the damage was discovered during a routine patrol on 9 August along the key high-voltage line connecting Ikot Abasi and Eket in Akwa Ibom State. According to preliminary assessments, vandals dismantled and stole vital steel support structures from the base of the towers, causing five of them to buckle and fall.
Engineers inspecting the corridor found that a further seven towers had been stripped of structural components, leaving them heavily compromised and at immediate risk of collapse.
In a statement, TCN management condemned the incident as an “act of sabotage” against critical national infrastructure.
Grid Reconfigured to Protect Power Supply
To prevent widespread blackouts across the region, network operators have reconfigured the regional grid to re-route electricity to the nearby Ekim transmission station. However, the outage has temporarily cut off supply to the Ibom Power Station. Emergency repair crews are currently being deployed to reconstruct the fallen towers and reinforce the damaged structures. The company added that security agencies have been notified to investigate the theft and step up patrols along vulnerable transmission routes.
Vandalism and the theft of metal components from critical utility infrastructure remain a persistent challenge across parts of Nigeria, frequently causing localized power outages and costing the state millions of dollars in emergency repairs.
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