Details have emerged on how Boko Haram, again, plunged the hitherto commercial capital of Northeast Nigeria, Maiduguri and environs into fresh darkness barely four days after electricity supply was restored to the region.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria, which gave the details in a statement to Platforms Africa, said that the insurgents have again vandalised two towers on the Damaturu-Maidugiri 330kiloVolt Transmission Line. The procurement and installation of the transmission line have earlier gulped several millions of Naira.
TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, said this in the statement that the two towers were bombed early on Saturday.
The Saturday vandalism, the TCN spokesperson added, took place barely four days after TCN made concerted effort and restored power to Maiduguri on March 24, two months after the first incident.
She said: “The incident which occurred at about 5.56am on March 27 again cut power supply to Maiduguri and its environs.
“This time, the insurgents chain bombed two other towers: T152 and T153, on the same line route of the other incident.”
Mbah, however, said TCN would continue to do all that it could to ensure power supply was restored to the affected areas.
On the fight against insurgency, the Presidency has earlier said that Nigeria would take delivery of six of the ordered 12 Super Tucanos fighter aircraft in mid-July 2021.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, revealed this on his Twitter handle on Thursday in Abuja.
He stated that the remaining six would be arriving in the country shortly after the arrival of the first set.
The presidential aide further disclosed that 14 Nigerian pilots are being trained at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia, USA on these planes.
Shehu tweeted: “The Super Tucanos came off the production line in Jacksonville, Florida, and are now being equipped and flight tested.
“The Air-Ground-Integration school is the training hub on targeting and minimization of civilian casualties.
“At present, five Nigerian Super Tucanos are at Moody AFB in Georgia for pilot and maintainer training.”
Shehu said the two companies had released images of the sixth aircraft, which also would be flown to Moody, in a jungle camouflage scheme.
He added: “The painted jungle scheme NAF A-29 now moves on to mission modification at Moody Air Force Base.”
