Residents in Bayelsa state will experience power outage for at least five weeks after three electricity towers were vandalised along the Ahoada-Yenagoa transmission line.
The Ahoada-Yenagoa 132kV Double Circuit Transmission line is crucial for evacuating power from the Ahoada Transmission Substation to the Yenagoa Substation, that supplies electricity to the entire Bayelsa State.
But the action of vandals on 3 electricity towers and additional 11 collapsed towers has left the state in almost complete darkness for weeks now.
Although repair works have already started by the Transmission Company of Nigeria, the Bayelsa state commissioner of information alongside the managing director of the Bayelsa State electricity company are visiting the Igbogene axis to ascertain the extent of the damage and the ongoing repairs on the transmission line.
The repair work is estimated at over 1.7 billion naira and scheduled to last over a month before power could be restored in the state.
A laundry business owner, Felix Okon is among several residents in Yenagoa whose businesses rely majorly on electricity and are now forced to constantly use generators with increasing fuel prices to keep their businesses afloat.
The Bayelsa state government is confident its partnership with the TCN will ensure speedy completion of the ongoing repairs to return power to the state.