By ABAH SUNDAY, Abuja
Residents of New Nyanya in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State have expressed their pain and despair as the protracted blackout being suffered in the area enters its eighth (8th) month
with no end in sight.
For residents around Blue House/Timber Shed area of New Nyanya, it has been 8 months now since they saw the last flash of light after the two pole-mounted transformers that serve the area packed up.
According to accounts, at a point, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) under whose franchise Nasarawa State falls in terms of power supply sent its men who removed the Blue House transformer and took it to their workshop to repair and come and reinstall, but never came back.
A resident, Mr Joseph Atebije, who has been following up from AEDC’s local office up to the headquarters at Wuse Zone 4 to no avail, said during the several efforts they made to get updated from the workshop, they were told the transformer was yet to be fixed because there were no materials.
“Most recently, sources from within AEDC raised our hope, as they told us that materials had arrived for ten transformers, ours included, and we were happy, only to be devastated by a later information from the same sources that the materials were meant for the repair of two transformers being pushed by some high ranking government officials.
“At a point we sought to retrieve the transformer and repair, for AEDC to come and install, which they accepted, but the process has not yet been finalised,” he said.
He lamented the negative impact of the protracted darkness on the socio-economic life of the people.
“For eight months now we have been in darkness here, even with the intensity of heat now, with no water, no fuel. There are security threats everywhere now. Some nano business owners have closed shop. This is not fair,” he lamented.
Another resident, Mr Owoicho Olegbo, the general manager of a guest house in the area, while recounting their ordeal, said they became tired after being referred from one AEDC office to another, up to their headquarters, for weeks without result.
“We’re dying in silence here because we don’t have any influential person in government. I became fed up and decided to get a new 50kVA transformer, but you’ll be amazed at the cost they gave us at AEDC office: N10.5 million. Testing it alone, they said, is N500,000,” Olegbo said.
They called on the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the federal government to intervene as a matter of urgency to salvage the situation and save the people’s soul.
Upon enquiry from AEDC’s Ado Area office earlier, a senior official told our correspondent that the particular case was already before the management and being treated.