An explosion at the Gariki Injection Substation in Enugu on Friday evening disrupted electricity supply to several parts of the state capital, leaving numerous residential and commercial areas without power.
MainPower Electricity Distribution Limited confirmed the incident in a statement issued on Friday by its Head of Communications, Emeka Ezeh, explaining that the explosion damaged critical equipment at the facility.
According to the company, the outage affected customers connected to the Army and Gariki 11kV feeders after the incident occurred at approximately 7:30 p.m.
“The incident occurred today, Friday, July 17, 2026, at about 7:30 p.m. and affected the indoor 11kV breaker at the injection substation,” Ezeh stated.
The company disclosed that communities supplied through the Army 11kV feeder currently experiencing power outages include Army Barracks, One Day Road, Meniru, Upper Meniru and Joe Continental.
It added that customers connected to the Gariki 11kV feeder were also affected, with electricity supply interrupted in Gariki Market, Mayor Market, Roban Stores along Agbani Road, Crunchies, the Mobile Police Barracks, Amechi Road, Upper Mount, Ikiriki, Emeka Ebila, Ozalla Street, Egbonnaji, Nnaji Ogbodo, Idaw River, Igbariam Street, Liberation, Mount, Umuchu, Achina, Vance, Unubi, Enugu Agidi, Amawbia, Amokwe, Kenneth, Amah and Hill Crest.
MainPower assured customers that engineers had already begun assessing the extent of the damage while repair works were underway to restore electricity supply.
“The technical team has commenced the assessment of the damaged equipment and restoration work is already ongoing,” the company said.
The electricity distribution company apologised to customers for the inconvenience caused by the disruption and appealed for understanding as efforts continue to restore normal service.
“We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused and appeal to our customers to remain patient as our engineers work diligently to restore supply as quickly as possible,” Ezeh added.
The latest outage comes months after the Enugu State Electricity Regulatory Commission sanctioned MainPower over poor service delivery by downgrading some of its electricity feeders.
The commission had earlier found that several feeders operated by the company failed to meet the minimum number of electricity supply hours required for different categories of consumers under the state’s electricity supply framework.
MainPower became the electricity distribution company for Enugu State following the implementation of the state’s electricity sector reforms, which resulted in the unbundling of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company’s operations.
Since taking over distribution responsibilities within the state, the company has pledged to improve infrastructure, expand electricity access and deliver more reliable power supply to residents and businesses.
However, incidents such as Friday’s substation explosion continue to highlight the challenges facing electricity infrastructure and the need for sustained investment in the network.
