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Blackout in Kano, Kaduna as vandals destroy TCN towers
Blackout in Kano, Kaduna as vandals destroy TCN towers
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has reported the vandalism of two towers along its 330kV Shiroro–Kaduna transmission lines 1 and 2, resulting in blackout in parts of Kano and Kaduna states.
A report from TCN’s Shiroro Regional Office confirmed the damage, which led to widespread blackouts in the affected areas.
In a statement signed by the General Manager of Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, TCN disclosed that preparations are underway to deploy a newly acquired “emergency restoration system” to the site while efforts to rebuild the destroyed towers are ongoing.
Although the company did not directly link the attack to banditry, there are suspicions that the recent killing of 13 farmers in the Shiroro area might be connected to the vandalism.
“The Transmission Company of Nigeria announces that two towers along its 330kV Shiroro–Kaduna transmission lines 1 and 2 have been vandalised, damaging parts of both transmission lines,” the statement read.
The statement further explained that the first transmission line tripped, followed by the second line, while engineers were still attempting to restore the initial outage. In response, local vigilante groups were mobilized to secure the lines.
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The company identified the damaged structures as towers T133 and T136, with multiple sections of cables severely affected.
An aerial survey was conducted in partnership with security personnel to assess the extent of the damage and monitor potential threats to TCN infrastructure in the area.
“Arrangements are in top gear to deploy the newly procured ‘emergency restoration system’ to the site, pending the reconstruction of the damaged towers,” the statement added.
In the meantime, engineers have implemented temporary measures to supply electricity to Kano and Kaduna through the 330kV Kaduna–Jos transmission line.
The vandalism of the Shiroro–Kaduna lines, which are each capable of transmitting 600MW, poses a significant challenge to power distribution in the region.
“We are, however, committed to re-erecting the towers and restringing the transmission lines to restore bulk power transmission through both 330kV power transmission lines,” the statement concluded.
Blackout in Kano, Kaduna as vandals destroy TCN towers
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Notorious cultist, Pelele, gunned down in Rivers
Notorious cultist, Pelele, gunned down in Rivers
Operatives of the Rivers State Police Command have successfully neutralized a suspected cultist and kidnapper, Gbarani Bume, popularly known as Pelele, in Luawii Community, Khana Local Government Area.
Bume, a reportedly known member of the Iceland cult group, had allegedly been terrorizing the Beree/Tabaa area of Khana LGA alongside his gang.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer, Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the incident in a statement released in Port Harcourt on Sunday.
According to Iringe-Koko, the police acted on intelligence that Pelele and his gang were attempting to abduct a site engineer in Luawii. Upon arrival, the operatives were met with gunfire from the suspects. In the ensuing shootout, Pelele sustained fatal injuries and later died, while his accomplices fled with gunshot wounds.
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The statement reads: “The Rivers State Police Command has made a significant breakthrough in its efforts to combat crime, neutralising a notorious cultist and kidnapper, Gbarani Bume, a.k.a. Pelele, a native of Bere Community in Khana LGA.
“He was a member of the Iceland Cult Group, which has been terrorising the Beree/Tabaa axis of Khana LGA.
“On the 15th of November 2024, operatives from the Bori Division, acting on a tip-off, were mobilised to Luawii Community where Pelele and his gang were attempting to kidnap a site engineer.
“Upon sighting the operatives, the hoodlums opened fire, resulting in a fierce crossfire, during which Pelele was fatally wounded. His accomplices escaped with various degrees of bullet wounds.
“Items recovered from the suspect include one AK-47 rifle, two magazines, and 10 rounds of live ammunition.”
She further stated that investigations are ongoing to track down the fleeing gang members, emphasizing the Command’s commitment to tackling crime and enhancing public safety in the state.
Notorious cultist, Pelele, gunned down in Rivers
metro
Court stops police from arresting 68 Obaseki’s allies
Court stops police from arresting 68 Obaseki’s allies
metro
26 dead, 59 missing as Israel hits Gaza, Lebanon in deadly strikes
26 dead, 59 missing as Israel hits Gaza, Lebanon in deadly strikes
Strikes by the Israel military killed dozens in Gaza on Sunday, the civil defence said, while also hitting a Hezbollah stronghold near Beirut’s international airport.
Israel has been fighting on two fronts since September, intensifying attacks on Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah after nearly a year of cross-border clashes alongside its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
A year after the Gaza war was triggered by Hamas’s October 7 attacks on its south, Israel vowed to stop the Islamist militants from regrouping in the north of the Palestinian territory, launching a major assault there.
In the latest violence in the besieged Palestinian territory, the civil defence agency said Israeli air raids killed at least 46 people.
The deadliest strike, in the middle of the night in Beit Lahia in the north, killed 26 people, including women and children, and left at least 59 others buried under the rubble, said civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal.
Another strike killed 10 people in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, where a separate strike on a house claimed the life of a woman, he said.
An Israeli drone strike killed five people in the southern city of Rafah, Bassal said, adding another strike killed three women and a child in the Nuseirat camp.
Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry on Sunday said the overall death toll in more than 13 months of war had reached 43,846.
The majority of the dead are civilians, according to ministry figures, which the United Nations considers reliable.
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Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
– Lebanon rescuers mourned –
On Israel’s second front in the north, AFPTV footage showed several strikes hit Hezbollah’s south Beirut stronghold, shortly after the Israeli military warned people to evacuate.
Columns of smoke were seen rising over the capital’s southern suburbs, where Lebanon’s only international airport is located.
Further south, overnight Israeli air strikes and shelling hit the flashpoint town of Khiam, the Lebanese state-run National News Agency reported.
Following the bombardment, the Israeli army said about 20 projectiles were seen crossing from Lebanon into Israel, and that some of them were intercepted. Emergency services did not immediately report any casualties.
Israel has escalated its bombing of Lebanon since September 23 and has since sent in ground troops, following almost a year of limited, cross-border exchanges of fire begun by Hezbollah militants in support of Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza.
Its military on Saturday said Hezbollah had already “paid a big price”, but vowed to keep fighting until tens of thousands of Israelis displaced from the north can return home.
Israeli forces also shelled the southern area of Lebanon along the Litani River, the NNA said on Sunday.
The news agency had earlier reported strikes on the southern city of Tyre, including in a neighbourhood near UNESCO-listed ancient ruins. Israel’s military said late Saturday it had hit Hezbollah sites in the area.
In Lebanon’s east, the health ministry said an Israeli strike in the Bekaa Valley killed six people including three children.
Hezbollah said it fired a guided missile that set an Israeli tank ablaze in the southwestern Lebanese village of Chamaa.
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In eastern Lebanon, funerals were held for 14 civil defence staff killed in an Israeli strike on Thursday.
“They weren’t involved with any (armed) party… they were just waiting to answer calls for help,” said Ali al-Zein, a relative of one of the dead.
– Gaza famine alert –
Lebanese authorities say more than 3,452 people have been killed since October last year, with most casualties recorded since September.
Israel announced the death of a soldier in southern Lebanon, bringing to 48 the number killed fighting Hezbollah.
A UN-backed assessment on November 9 warned famine was imminent in northern Gaza, amid the increased hostilities and a near-halt in food aid.
Israel has pushed back against a Human Rights Watch report this week alleging that its mass displacement of Gazans amounts to a “crime against humanity”, as well as findings from a UN Special Committee pointing to warfare practices “consistent with the characteristics of genocide”.
A foreign ministry spokesman dismissed the HRW report as “completely false”, while the United States — Israel’s main military supplier — said accusations of genocide “are certainly unfounded”.
In Israel, police said they arrested three suspects after flares shot near the home of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the central city of Caesarea, south of Haifa, while he was away.
Demonstrators in Tel Aviv on Saturday reiterated demands that the government reach a deal to free dozens of hostages still held in Gaza.
The protest came a week after mediator Qatar suspended its role until Hamas and Israel show “seriousness” in truce and hostage-release talks.
26 dead, 59 missing as Israel hits Gaza, Lebanon in deadly strikes
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