Total blackout in Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara as fire destroys transmission station

Fire on Thursday gutted the Transmission station of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State.

The incident, which started in the late hours of Thursday, was said to have destroyed the 60 and 90MVA transformers feeding Kebbi Sokoto and Zamfara States.

Police Public Relations Officer, Kebbi Police Command, SP Nafiu Abubakar, confirmed the development but didn’t make any comment on the cause of the outbreak.

The fire outbreak came up a few hours after the restoration of the national grid, which collapsed in the hours of the day.

Adebayo Adelabu, Minister of Power, said the collapse of the national grid was caused by a fire outbreak on the Kainji/Jebba 330KV line.

However, the affected transformers were feeding Kebbi, Sokoto, and some parts of Zamfara State, which include Talata Mafara, Bakura, Maradun, Anka and other parts of Zamfara West.

Meanwhile, the Kaduna Electric Power Distribution Company (KAEDCO) has attributed the recent power outage in some parts of Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara to the fire incident in Kebbi State transmitting station, saying that it regrets any inconveniences the service disruption might have caused to its customers.

“The Management of Kaduna Electric regrets to inform its valued customers in parts of Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara States that the power outage currently being experienced is as a result of the unfortunate fire incident that gutted some critical power supply infrastructure at the Transmission Works Centre in Birnin Kebbi last night.

“Our counterparts from TCN are assessing the extent of damage with a view to commencing necessary repair works. We deeply sympathize with the management and staff of TCN over the unfortunate development,” the company’s management said in a statement released on its verified Twitter (X) account on Friday.