THE state capital and communities of Borno and Yobe have been thrown into darkness after suspected Boko Haram insurgents destroyed an electricity tower supplying power to the city.
The latest setback comes barely a year after the insurgents destroyed towers that cut off Maiduguri from the national grid for several months.
This newspaper gathered that the incident took place around 11:40pm on Thursday in Katsaita village in Yobe State,
Residents in the Katsaita village revealed that they heard a thunderous sound of explosion from the tower side when the incident happened.
Other residents of Damaturu, who rely heavily on motorized boreholes powered by electricity, are facing severe disruptions to both business and daily life.
“We don’t have water,” said one resident. “Most of these boreholes rely on electricity to operate. It’s been over 24 hours now, and we don’t know when power will be restored. We’re really suffering.
Confirming the incident, the General Manager, Public Affairs of Transmission Company of Nigeria, Ndidi Mba, said it’s T372 tower that was vandalised, “bringing down the 330Kva transmission tower, which pulled down tower T373 along the same transmission line route.”
He said the TCN had mobilised to get get one of its constructors to commence reconstruction of the destroyed towers.
“TCN strongly condemns the incident and regrets the inconvenience caused to the government and people of Borno and Yobe states and pledged to do all that is possible to quickly re-erect the towers to restore power supply to the affected areas,” he said.
He also appealed to the host communities to cooperate with the TNC in the fight against vandalism and the necessary preservation of power infrastructure nationwide, “which is our collective assets”.
