Lights Out Up North? TCN Says Sit-at-Home Protesters Pulled the Plug.

Eket Province, Nigeria-Biafraland.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has confirmed ongoing power outages in the North East, North West, and parts of the North Central regions, attributing the disruptions to line tripping on major transmission routes. The outage, which began on Monday, has left several states without power, while TCN’s attempts to locate and fix the fault have been hampered by challenging terrain, insecurity, and the ongoing sit-at-home protests in Eastern Region.

In a statement released on Tuesday morning, Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s General Manager of Public Affairs, apologized to the government and electricity consumers in the affected areas. Mbah explained that patrol teams tasked with fault tracing had faced difficulties due to both natural obstacles and the sit-at-home order observed in the South East on October 21st and 22nd, which impacted operational logistics, including refueling patrol vehicles.

The power outage was triggered by a fault on the 330kV Ugwaji–Apir Double Circuit transmission lines, which tripped early Monday morning, resulting in a loss of 468 MW. Despite efforts to restore power by transferring load to alternative lines, the system continued to trip, plunging several northern states into darkness.

“Two teams of linesmen were dispatched yesterday,” Mbah said. “The team from Apir Transmission Sub-Region patrolled the line through difficult terrain, but were unable to locate the fault by the end of the day. The Enugu team, however, was delayed by the IPOB sit-at-home directive, which not only affected their movements but also hindered the refueling of patrol vehicles.”

TCN further explained that while efforts to restore power to parts of the North are ongoing, the 330kV transmission lines remain out of service, with security concerns also contributing to the delay in repairs on the Shiroro-Mando line.

“The Shiroro-Mando line is also down due to security reasons, exacerbating the power outage in the North,” Mbah stated. “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and assure consumers that our engineers are working with security operatives to trace the fault and restore bulk power supply as soon as possible.”

TCN's teams have resumed their patrols early this morning and are committed to resolving the issue despite the logistical and security challenges in the affected regions.