Electricity consumers in Uteh area of Benin City, have decried the six months power outage in the community, caused by the breakdown of transformer serving the area.
Some of the residents told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Monday in Benin, that the community had been in darkness for six months now.
They called on the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) to fix the transformer and restore light to the area because the current situation had impacted negatively on their lives.
Mrs Oge Onovo, a petty trader in the area, said that the long period of power outage had hampered her business.
Onovo said that the situation had forced some of the residents whose rents had expired to relocate to other part of the Edo capital.
She accused BEDC of insensitivity to the plight of residents of the area.
Another consumer, Mr Emmanuel Ogbeide, said the blackout had increased the amount he spent on buying diesel to run his generator.
Ogbeide told NAN that the electricity distribution company last December compelled each household in the area to pay N5,000 for the replacement of the faulty transformer.
He said: “BEDC officials told us at a meeting with all the landlords and tenants that those using prepaid meters should buy N5,000 worth of electricity credit units to enable it to replace the transformer.
“They also said that those using analogue meters should pay N5,000 each as part of their bills into a particular bank account belonging to the company which was given to us at the meeting.
“The situation here is terrible. With the current economic challenges Nigerians are facing, we still squeeze out money to fuel our generating sets daily,” he said.
Contacted, Mrs Ekaete Godwin, the Senior Manager (distribution) of BEDC in the area, confirmed the payment of the amount to the company’s account.
Godwin told NAN that 70 per cent debts owed by consumers in the area should be paid before the transformer could be restored for use. (NAN)