Residents of Ado, Karu Local Government Area, Nasarawa State, have expressed worry over power outage that has thrown the community into darkness for the past three weeks.
Some of the residents who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday said the power outage, caused by a faulty transformer, had negatively impacted their businesses in the last three weeks.
Mrs Uwem Umeh, who operates a bar and restaurant, expressed dissatisfaction with the nonchalant attitude of the staff of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), Nyanya Gwandara branch, to the plight of the residents of the community.
“We purchased the transformer and provided electricity poles and cables for ourselves which are supposed to be done by the government, yet we are paying bills every month whether we have regular light or not.
“I paid N40, 000 for the procurement of the transformer and it is painful for such efforts to be in vain when we are charged bills without regular supply of power.
“Are we supposed to provide all these things by ourselves in the first place?” Umeh pondered.
Another resident, Mr Chukwu Ikenna, who described the situation as unfortunate and painful, said the situation had made life so difficult for business operators who rely on public electricity to run their businesses.
“If you can go round to investigate, you will notice that all the transformers here are provided by the community and we are paying the bill every month.
“It is up to three weeks now since the light went off, I cannot pump water and we are buying water from outside because my generator is faulty. I am appealing to the relevant authority to come to our aid,” he said.
Commenting on the situation, Mr Christopher Ugwuke, Ado Community Chairman, said when the transformer stopped functioning, the executive immediately reported the case to the officials of AEDC.
“It was on the Feb. 27, when the transformer was emitting smoke and we quickly called the servicing manager, Nyanya Gwandara AEDC branch office to report the issue.
“They came and removed the cables that supply power to the transformer, they told us about the malfunctioning casket which we bought at N10, 000 and replaced.
“They also told us about the oil which was due for a change and we were ready to offer money for the purchase of the oil, but they refused to collect the money, saying it was their responsibility to do so,” he said.
According to Ugwuke, for two weeks the AEDC officials refused to change the oil which compelled the officials of the community and the village head of Ado to visit the AEDC office again on March 8.
“They promised us to come and fix the transformer last Saturday being March. 10, but up till today they have not come as they promised,” he said.
A NAN check on the transformer on Sunday and Monday, however, showed that it had not been fixed at the time of the visit.
The AEDC branch manager, Nyanya Gwandara, Mr Emmanuel Benjamin, told NAN that, “yes the community officials came here and we promised them to come and fix the transformer last Saturday, February 10, 2018, and we are still working on it.”
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