Kebbi residents recount ordeal after 2 months of electricity outage

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) on Wednesday restored electricity to Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State capital and its environs after almost two months, but residents have continued to recount their losses, ordeal, and agony during the two months of the poor power supply. For about two months, the communities in Kebbi State, particularly Birnin Kebbi, […]

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) on Wednesday restored electricity to Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State capital and its environs after almost two months, but residents have continued to recount their losses, ordeal, and agony during the two months of the poor power supply.

For about two months, the communities in Kebbi State, particularly Birnin Kebbi, the state capital, lived with the agony of poor supply of electricity. The state capital and its immediate environs were thrown into near blackout, as the electricity that was being supplied occasionally could not be used for the necessary needs at home and the workplace.

While many residents at the home front suffered as a result of the damage done to their essential food items in the refrigerators, artisans such as barbers, welders, electricians, and repairers of electrical home appliances are worst hit by the power situation.

The power incident occurred a week after the national grid collapsed. Windstorm had destroyed three transmission lines at Sawashi, Yauri Local Government Area of the state.

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As repair works was going on at the site, another windstorm destroyed the transmission lines at Shanga and that worsened the power situation as the transmission lines that links Kanji with Niger, Kebbi, Sokoto and parts of Zamfara and linked Niger Republic were also destroyed.

The Managing Director of Kaduna Electric Distribution Company (KAEDCO), Umar Abubakar Hashidu, during a visit to Kebbi over the power outage, had assured that work on the collapsed 330 KV power tower transmission line from Kainji to Birnin Kebbi was in the final process of completion.

He said the three towers of the 330 KV capacity Birnin Kebbi transmission line had collapsed, leaving no power supply from Kainji to Birnin Kebbi and Sokoto.

He said, “KAEDCO receives supply from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and there was a back feed to Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara through Talata Mafara, coming from Enugu to Benue and to Zaria”.

Hashidu added that the 330 KV would come back to life to restore power to Kebbi, Sokoto. Despite the fact that his assurance had brought hope to residents of Kebbi that had been living without electricity for about two months due to the collapsed of the transmission lines, the hope was dashed after, over three weeks, the repair work was yet to be completed and people continued to live in pain and agony.

On Wednesday, there were speculations in Birnin Kebbi that electricity would be restored on Thursday as officials of TCN have completed the repair work on the damaged transmission lines at Shanga and that at Sawashi, all in Yauri Emirate.

A government official at the Government House in Birnin Kebbi also confirmed that the damaged transmission lines had been fixed. “As you can see, there was improvement in the power supply today. We have been assured that electricity will be restored to Kebbi by Thursday”, he said.

But against this speculation, power was restored to Birnin Kebbi and its environs on Wednesday. To many residents, the restoration of power was like something they would not like to believe in a hurry, but the power proved everyone wrong as it stayed on from Wednesday to Thursday without blinking.

 

Residents recall experiences

Some residents said it will take time before the nightmare the power situation caused leaves them. A barber at the Gesse area of Birnin Kebbi, Abdulwasiu Olaiya, said it got to a point he had to close his shop because he could no longer do anything as the power issue persisted.

“I left my shop; I couldn’t use the generator for my customers because it’s too expensive for me. It really affected my barbing business. I just hope I will be able to get over it soon”, he said.

Baba Nasiru, a cold room operator at the mechanic village in the town, also lamented the huge loss he incurred.

“The electricity issue happened just a few days after I stocked my cold room. I had thought that it would only last for a few days when I heard what happened to the transmission lines, but it caused a huge loss to me because the fish and other seafood in my cold room got rotten, as there was no quick solution to the power situation.

“I’m still counting my losses. I bought part of the seafood on credit, and I have to pay back, but I really don’t know where to look for money to pay the debt this has caused me,” he said.

A resident of Birnin Kebbi, Abdullahi Augie, told our correspondent how the power situation had caused an untold hardship in his household and others.

He said, “This is the same situation that the TCN high tension transmission towers had caused across the country. There was no power supply as the 330KVA transmission towers were brought down by severe wind storms in parts of Shanga and Yauri.

“Before then, the TCN installations had been vandalised by miscreants who sold them as scrap metal to buy drugs”.

He added that the management of TCN should imagine the damage the outages had caused people in terms of the meat, soup, and other perishable food items they stored in their refrigerators, particularly during the Sallah period amid the current inflation in the country.

Speaking in the same vein, Hajiya Binta Usman, a resident of Aliero quarters in Birnin Kebbi, said things got worse for many people because of the light Issue when TCN did not meet the timeline to fix the damaged transmission lines.

“We really suffered during the outage period. Many times, when we heard they would fix the lines, we would wash our fridges, clean our air conditioners, all in preparation for the restoration of the electricity, but it was a dashed hope.

“There was no water to drink or wash. We can’t even pump water to do the necessary things at home. People were always out carrying empty buckets around the whole community, looking for where to get water, particularly behind the Hajj camp, Badariya, Rafin Atiku, and even at the GRA in Birnin Kebbi. It was so pathetic,” she said.

Another resident told our correspondent that for over three weeks, he was without light in his house because his meter could not accommodate the low-voltage power supply they usually bring at intervals.

“Sometimes, if it does, it can only last for a few minutes as the light continues to fluctuate in a dangerous way. It was a terrible experience. I couldn’t use the light to do anything in my house. Just imagine what I went through with my family without light for over a month,” a civil servant, Malam Bello Sarki, said.

He added that it was a relief as he and his family enjoyed a steady and uninterrupted electricity supply from the afternoon of Wednesday to Thursday morning. “We have never had it that way in the last one year”, he said.

A restaurant owner in Birnin Kebbi, Mrs Blessing Augustine, who lamented the losses she incurred due to the electricity situation, said all the food items and meat meant for sale in her refrigerators got spoiled.

“I really do not want to talk about the light issue. I don’t know where to start again. Anytime I remember the huge losses it caused me, it is like a nightmare to me. All the meat I bought and other food items spoiled. I really didn’t know how to handle it.

“I watched those food items in my refrigerator get spoiled hopelessly and had to be thrown to the dogs to eat. I lost almost N420,000”, she lamented.

Mrs Augustine said it will take time before the wound from the power outage caused by her and her business will heal.