Traders and residents who built shops under Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, power lines at Egor Market narrowly escaped death on Thursday after the lines exploded and burst into flames, forcing a scramble for safety.
The incident, reported on Friday, June 26, 2026, by TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, also triggered voltage instability on the national grid that disrupted supply to Lagos and its environs.
—“We fled for our lives”–
witnesses at Egor Market said traders and residents who had erected buildings and shops directly under the 330KV lines ran for their lives as the cables sparked and went up in flames. Traders were later seen praying after the fire was put out.
![](https://www.theconclaveng.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Hartland.png")
—Grid impact and restoration—
TCN said the explosion affected the Benin-Egbin 330KV and the Benin-Omotoso 330KV transmission lines.
The fault caused voltage instability on the national grid that spread across the Lagos corridor, leading to the loss of some generating stations, transmission line outages, and a subsequent power interruption in Lagos.
Mbah said the National Control Centre ordered several generators to reduce output to arrest the frequency rise, stabilise the system and prevent further disruption.
“The Benin–Egbin 330kV transmission line has been restored and is currently transmitting bulk electricity,” she stated.
A joint team of TCN engineers from Benin and Omotoso sub-regions is working to rectify the remaining faults on the Benin-Omotoso 330kV line to restore full bulk power supply to the Lagos axis.
[Source: culled from The Punch]
