Several areas in Abuja, including parts of the Presidential Villa, Maitama, Wuse, Jabi, Lifecamp, Asokoro, Utako, and Mabushi, were left without power following the vandalism of a critical transmission line.
The incident occurred near the Menillum Park axis, where vandals stole 40 meters of 1x500mm XLPE conductor from two 132kV transmission lines. The affected lines supply bulk electricity to the Central Area transmission substation in Katampe.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria confirmed the incident in a statement on Friday. Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s General Manager of Public Affairs, said the vandalism disrupted over 60% of Abuja’s power supply, impacting eight distribution feeders supplying electricity to the Central Area.
Mbah noted, “Consequently, areas experiencing power outage include Maitama, Wuse, Jabi, Life Camp, Asokoro, Utako, Mabushi, and parts of the Presidential Villa.”
The TCN dispatched a team of engineers to repair the damaged cables and restore power to the affected areas.
“We appeal to residents in these areas to remain patient as efforts are underway to fix the damage,” Mbah said.
Expressing concern about the frequent vandalism of power infrastructure, Mbah urged Nigerians to stay vigilant and help protect transmission equipment to prevent further disruptions.
The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company also confirmed the outage in a notice to its customers, listing several affected areas, including the Federal Secretariat, Central Mosque, Transcorp Hotel, Eagle Square, and parts of Maitama and Jabi.
“Dear Valued Customers,” the notice began, “The power outage being experienced is due to a fault on the 132kV lines 1 & 2 from Katampe to the Central Area Transmission Station.”
Efforts are ongoing to repair the vandalized cables and restore electricity to the affected locations.
