Fears Over Prolonged Power Outage As Boko Haram Bombs Maiduguri Electricity Towers Again

Barely three days after electric power was restored to Maiduguri, Borno State capital, Boko Haram insurgents again blew up transmission towers in the city.

Confirming the development on Saturday, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said that Boko Haram terrorists bombed two electricity towers on the Damaturu – Maiduguri 330kiloVolt (KV)Transmission Line.

According to TCN General Manager, Public Affairs, Mrs Ndidi Mbah, the two towers were bombed early on Saturday .

Mbah said that the Saturday vandalism took place after TCN had made concerted effort and restored power to Maiduguri on 24 March, two months after the first incident.

“The incident which occurred at about 5.56 a.m. on March 27 again cut power supply to Maiduguri and its environs.

” This time, the insurgents chain bombed two other towers; T152 and T153 on the same line route of the other incident,” she said.

She said TCN would do all it could to ensure power supply was restored to the affected areas.

A top military officer told THE WHISTLER on Sunday morning that the insurgents planted explosives on each leg of the tower, which they detonated at about 6 a.m.

The action threw the city into total darkness.

Recall that on Wednesday last week jubilant residents of Maiduguri were seen in a video that trended on social media as they celebrated the return of electricity after nearly two months of blackout.

It took officials of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) that long to repair the transmission tower brought down by the insurgents at a location about 50km from Maiduguri.

While reconnecting the installation, three TCN officials were severely injured by a landmine planted by the insurgents. Another official was said to have lost his life after falling off a tower.

“The tower that was attacked was not far from the one brought down in January.

“It is a major setback for Maiduguri because the tower that was brought down has affected other poles.

“They planted bombs on each leg of the towér which caused it to go down, and they had also fired at some of the high tension wires that caused the lines to cut into bits,” the source added.

It took officials of the TCN and the Borno government nearly two months to temporarily fix the first tower.

With the latest attack, residents of Maiduguri would suffer from the attendant harsh economic impact the resumed blackout would cause.

The TCN and the Borno State government were yet to speak on the development at the time of filing this report.