Electricity supply in parts of Kwara State was temporarily disrupted after armed men reportedly invaded a major Transmission Company of Nigeria substation in Offa, holding workers hostage and forcing operators to shut down critical power feeders.

The incident has raised fresh concerns over the security of Nigeria’s power infrastructure, especially as repeated attacks on transmission facilities continue to expose vulnerabilities in the country’s fragile electricity network.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria said heavily armed men invaded the Offa 132kV Transmission Substation in the early hours of Thursday, May 7, 2026.

According to a statement issued by the company’s General Manager of Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, the attackers forcefully entered the control room and held staff members on duty at gunpoint.

“The attackers ordered the operator on duty to open both the Offa and Ojoku 33kV feeders at exactly 12:45 am on Thursday, 7th May 2026. They further demanded a total shutdown of the substation,” the statement said.

TCN subsequently declared force majeure on the facility, a term commonly used when operations are disrupted by extraordinary circumstances beyond the control of operators.

The company added that the attackers tampered with control switches and relay buttons during the operation, while the 40MVA transformer at the station was opened around 1:07am.

However, electricity restoration began shortly after the incident. TCN said the transformer was restored at 1:13am, while the Offa and Ojoku feeders were restored minutes later.

While the immediate disruption lasted only a few hours, the incident highlights a deeper and increasingly dangerous challenge facing Nigeria’s electricity sector — the growing exposure of transmission infrastructure to armed attacks, vandalism and sabotage.

Unlike distribution outages that mainly affect local communities, attacks on transmission substations can destabilise wider sections of the national grid, affecting businesses, hospitals, telecommunications services and small industries that depend on steady electricity supply.

A closer look also shows that power infrastructure security is becoming an overlooked national security issue. Transmission substations are strategic facilities, yet many remain poorly protected despite repeated incidents involving vandalism, theft of transmission equipment and attacks on grid assets.

What makes the Offa incident more troubling is that the attackers reportedly forced operators themselves to shut down feeders, suggesting a deliberate attempt to interrupt electricity supply rather than a simple robbery operation.

Authorities have not yet disclosed the motive behind the attack, and no arrests had been officially announced as of Saturday afternoon.

Nigeria has faced similar attacks on electricity infrastructure in recent years.

In 2022 and 2024, multiple transmission towers across northern Nigeria were vandalised or destroyed, causing widespread blackouts and expensive repairs. The national grid itself has also suffered repeated collapses linked to aging infrastructure, operational weaknesses and sabotage concerns.

Industry analysts say attacks on transmission assets create ripple effects beyond power outages alone. Frequent disruptions discourage industrial investment, increase energy costs and deepen pressure on already struggling businesses.

For rural communities and semi-urban commercial hubs like Offa and surrounding areas, even short disruptions can affect cold-chain businesses, healthcare facilities and water supply systems.

Energy experts have repeatedly argued that protecting transmission infrastructure should now be treated similarly to the protection of oil and gas facilities, especially given Nigeria’s growing dependence on stable electricity for economic recovery.

Despite the disruption, TCN maintained that supply restoration was achieved quickly and operations were stabilised.

“TCN regrets the inconvenience this incident may have caused and reaffirms its mandate to transmit bulk electricity efficiently to distribution companies’ load centres across the country,” the company stated.

Yet the deeper issue remains unresolved: Nigeria’s transmission network continues to face operational pressure from insecurity, vandalism and weak infrastructure protection.