Kebbi Residents, Businesses Count Losses As Blackout Bites

Residents and business owners, including welders, corn and bread millers, and cold-water sellers in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, have lamented losses caused by the prolonged power outage.

Our Correspondent gathered that the outage, which followed the collapse of the Kainji-Birnin Kebbi transmission tower on the line operated by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), is taking a toll on residents and businesses across the state.

Kebbi State has been without electricity from the national grid for about a week following the collapse of the transmission tower.

Some residents of Birnin Kebbi metropolis, who have remained without electricity since the incident, told LEADERSHIP that they had lost business opportunities and income as a result of the outage.

They said the prolonged blackout had affected businesses such as welding, corn milling, bread production, bread frying, and the sale of cold water and phone charging.

Two corn and bread millers, Malam Shehu Yusuf and Aliyu Muhammad, who depend on electricity from the national grid to operate their businesses, lamented that they had lost more than N500,000 in income within a week.

Similarly, a cold-water seller, Ummu Abubakar, in the Bayan-Kara area of Birnin Kebbi, said the outage had cost her about N10,000 daily.

“Oh my God, this issue of NEPA (electricity) outage has caused me a lot. There is no market or business due to a lack of power. I can no longer afford to eat three square meals a day,” she said.

Many residents and business owners affected by the outage have called on TCN management to expedite repairs of  the collapsed transmission tower and restore electricity to the state.

In a statement, TCN said it had declared a force majeure on the 330kV Kainji-Birnin Kebbi transmission line following the incident.

According to the company, its personnel had commenced fault-finding patrols along the transmission corridor as part of efforts to restore the collapsed tower and reconnect Kebbi State to the national grid.