At 10:44 p.m. on Monday, 7 September 2026, the 330kV Kainji–Birnin Kebbi transmission line tripped. Engineers attempted to restore it at 11:07 p.m., but the line tripped a second time, signalling something more serious than a routine fault.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) dispatched linesmen from its Birnin Kebbi Sub-Region to walk the transmission corridor and find the cause. What they discovered on Tuesday morning was unambiguous: Tower T367 had collapsed entirely.
TCN’s initial assessment pointed to severe winds and rainstorms as the cause of the structural failure. The collapse severed bulk electricity movement along one of the country’s key northern transmission corridors, cutting supply to communities that depend on it and leaving millions without power.
By Tuesday, 8 September, TCN had issued a formal statement declaring force majeure on the affected line, designated 2KNJ-BRK1. The force majeure declaration reflects the fact that a natural event — not negligence or mechanical failure — brought the infrastructure down, though that distinction offers little comfort to residents sitting in the dark.
The company confirmed it had begun mobilising personnel, equipment and materials to the collapse site with the aim of rebuilding the damaged tower and returning the line to full operation. No firm timeline for restoration was given.
In the meantime, TCN said it had activated an alternative route to prevent a total blackout for Sokoto. The TalataMafara–Sokoto corridor is now receiving electricity via the Kaduna–Mando axis, making use of the 132kV Zaria–Funtua–Gusau transmission line to bridge the gap left by the collapsed tower.
TCN apologised for the disruption and assured the public that restoration work was under way as a matter of urgency. The assurance is familiar. This is not an isolated incident — weeks before this collapse, a forced outage on TCN’s Alaoji 132kV Transmission Line had already knocked out electricity supply across Owerri, Yenagoa and Ahoada, caused by an earth fault and distance protection failure.
The pattern is difficult to ignore. Repeated equipment failures, vandalism and structural vulnerabilities continue to expose the fragility of Nigeria’s transmission infrastructure, with ordinary consumers bearing the cost each time a tower falls or a line trips in the night.