By CONSTANCE ATHEKAME

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says its linesmen, on Saturday, found a suspected vandal dead under a collapsed vandalised transmission tower in Delta.

The management of the company, in a statement in Abuja, on Saturday, said that the incident occurred on the 330 Kilo Volt (kV) Ughelli-Benin transmission line in Delta.

The statement said that the incident was discovered during an intensive line patrol carried out by the Delta Sub-Region, Lines Maintenance Department of TCN.

It said that the patrol followed the tripping of the line on earth fault on the transmission line.

According to TCN, the patrol team traced the fault to Tower 101, which had collapsed and met the corpse of the suspected vandal crushed between the tower members.

“Further inspection revealed that tower 101 on the adjacent Ughelli – Sapele 330kV transmission line had also been seriously vandalised.

“The tower is still standing as at the time of this report,” it said.

The statement also said that TCN condemned the act of vandalism and appealed to host communities and the public to remain vigilant.

The company urged the public to report any suspicious activities around power installations to security agencies and TCN offices nearest to them.

“The fight against the vandalism of power infrastructure is one that must be inclusive. All hands must be on deck for this fight to be won.

“This incident is a tragic reminder of the extreme dangers of tampering with power infrastructure.

“Vandalism, not only leads to power outages and damage to national assets, it also endangers lives.

“Protecting power infrastructure is a civic responsibility. Stop the vandals, or they will stop power for us all,” it said. (NAN)

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