Vandals Throw Niger Into Darkness

The activities of vandals of electrical installations have compounded the woes of electricity consumers in parts of Minna, the Niger state capital and its environs which hitherto experienced epileptic power supply from the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).
Minna and its environ had been thrown into total darkness for the past two weeks owing to continued vandalization of electrical installations and the situation has brought untold hardship to the residents of the affected areas.
It was further gathered that the situation has also crippled business and commercial activities especially in Minna the state capital as most customers who relied on electricity for their businesses have been forced to closed shops since they could not afford to run their business on generator due to high cost of diesel and petrol.
Our findings shows that in the last one week alone, no fewer than 28 transformer installations, mostly armoured cables have been stolen by these vandals who always operated in the night.
Before now, electricity consumers in the state have being grappling with epileptic power supply from the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) as they enjoyed only three hours electricity supply in a day.
Worried by the persisted power outage, the state government decided recently to embark on alternative power source through partnership with some foreign investors from Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
Governor Abubakar Sani Bello disclosed this when he played host to the Emir of Minna, Alhaji Umar Farouk Bahago, who led his councillors on Sallah visit to the governor in Government House, Minna.
He said the continuous epileptic power supply being experienced in the state and in view of the vast natural endowment for power generation, the state decided to embark on the projects.
However some electricity consumers in Minna who bore their minds on the current activities of the vandals and its effects on their businesses told The Dream Daily in an interview that the situation has sent them out of business because they cannot afford to continue running their businesses on generator.
A hair-dresser, in Tunga area, a suburb of Minna, Mrs. Mary Ndukwe while narrating the effect of the blackout on her business, told The Dream Daily that she has decided to close her shop since she could not continue to buy fuel.
Also a welder, Peter Simon, disclosed that he has not undertaken any welding job for the past two weeks due to the activities of the vandals, stressing that despite several complaints to the management of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), nothing has been done to replace the stolen cables.
When contacted, the area manager, AEDC Minna District Office, Engineer Ahmed Baro declined comment on the issue, saying that only the organization’s public relation officer, Mallam Adamu Mohammed, who is currently recuperating from an illness at a private hospital in Minna could comment on the development.