Nigeria’s Maiduguri in darkness after another jihadist attack

March 28, 2021

The northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri has been thrown into darkness anew after jihadists blew up electricity towers just days after power was restored, officials and residents said.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says insurgents have again vandalised two towers on the Damaturu – Maidugiri 330kiloVolt (KV)Transmission Line. TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Mrs Ndidi Mbah, said this in a statement in Abuja on Saturday, said that the two towers were bombed early on Saturday .Residents in the city of three million people reported a new power outage had occurred before dawn Saturday, but did not know immediately it had been caused by a new attack.

However, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) reported Sunday that there had been a new incident of sabotage. Electricity was on Wednesday restored to Maiduguri for the first time in two months following sabotage of a power grid by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) jihadists.

‘Electricity went out early in the morning and I thought it was the usual power outage and power would be supplied later, only to hear it was another attack,’ said Bukar Musa, a welder in the city. ‘This is indeed bad news for me, my happiness over power supply resumption has been shortlived,’ said Musa whose welding business has been crippled by the two-month outage. ‘I have been looking forward restarting my workshop which has been closed since January 26’.

It was the third time in a month that ISWAP would throw the entire city into darkness by blowing up transmission lines. ISWAP and rival jihadist group Boko Haram are notorious for blowing up telecom and power infrastructure in the northeast.