The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says Friday’s inferno in Lagos that led to the collapse of five high tension towers was caused by petroleum products pipeline vandals.

The inferno occurred at a pipeline on Isheri Olofin, off Igbando-LASU Expressway and it caused massive damage to the 330KV Ikeja-West Akangba Transmission Line 1.

Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s spokesperson stated in Abuja that the inferno burned off a large portion of the electricity conductor.

She stated also that the inferno triggered a resistant pull on the high-tension towers along the line route, causing five of them to collapse.

“The incident which is estimated to have occurred at about 12.29 a.m. on Friday, burnt a wide portion of the 330kv transmission line which wheels 145mw of bulk power to the Akangba Substation.

“The transmission towers affected are the two closest to the site of the inferno and three across the Lagos Canal.

“As a result of the incident, there is a major reduction of bulk power wheeled to TCN’s 330/132/33kV Akangba Transmission Substation in Lagos,’’ she stated.

The substation takes supply from two different 330kv transmission lines, with the second being the redundant line, she added.

Ms Mbah stated also that TCN would rearrange bulk electricity transmitted on that line route to the second 330kv line previously carrying 59mw.

She added that TCN was successfully back-feeding the substations affected by the towers’ collapse, while engineers were patrolling the second 330kv transmission line which tripped as a result of the incident.

The, she explained, was to ensure it had no fault before it is re-energised.

“Once it is energised, supply will be restored to all the substations affected by the incident from the second 330kv transmission line.

“Load carried by the burnt 330kv line will now be transferred to the second line,’’ she also explained.

Ms Mbah lamented that an incident such as this was a major setback to TCN’s efforts at implementing grid expansion and stability under its Electricity Grid Maintenance, Expansion and Rehabilitation Programme.

According to her, the re-erection of five towers and restringing of the 330kv transmission line is a major project that costs a lot of money and will take a while to complete.

She said that TCN was appealing to Nigerians to desist from activities such as fuel theft and other destructive tendencies as they all have very far-reaching negative effects on the nation.

“The issue of protecting national assets is imperative and must be taken seriously so that the stability of the nation’s network and the development of the nation are not compromised,’’ she stressed.

(NAN)