Niger youths demand end to epileptic power supply

Niger State is home to majority of the hydro power stations that generate power in the country but despite the presence of these stations, the state seems to be worst hit in terms of power supply.

Minna which is the state capital is the most hit.

Residents of Minna and other parts of the state cannot boast of electricity supply for straight six hours daily.

The highest one can enjoy for power supply is between two to three hours in the morning from 9am to 12noon while some unlucky areas get just an hour in the morning and same at night.

The blackout is causing a lot of loss in business according to most business owners in the state.

The situation improved during the lockdown at the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic when the state government subsidised electricity with payment of N85 million to supply electricity to every home in the state.

Then the residents enjoyed up to 18hours power supply daily but, unfortunately, that fizzled away after the lockdown was eased, and residents now struggle to get three hours supply a day.

Worried by the situation, the youths of Kpakungun area of Minna, early Monday morning, blocked one of the major roads in the metropolis, to protest the epileptic power supply.

This attracted a lot of sympathy from other parts of the state and other people joined in the protest, which led to gridlock and blockage of travellers plying the route.

Kpakungun road is the only road that leads to the southern part of the country and the busiest road in the state.

The youths carried different placards with inscriptions such as, “enough is enough”, “no to estimated billing”, “no to 2 hours of light”, “if AEDC cannot give us light, they should pack and go”, “we no go gree” amongst others.

Efforts of the state government to bring the protest to an end and open up the road was not successful as the youths drove away the Secretary to the State Government, refusing to listen to the message he brought from the state governor.

They said that they were fed up with the epileptic power supply, accusing the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) of taking the people in the state for granted.

A Councillor representing Minna South Ward, Honorable Aminu Ladan, who spoke with our correspondent, said that the people in the state, especially those in Kpakungun area have been marginalised for long.

“As you can see, the SSG was driven away in anger and the message he brought could not be passed. My people are demanding the presence of the governor.

“As a political office holder,

I understand that the SSG is a representative of the governor but the people do not understand that. They are not convinced and they want the governor to come himself.” he said.

The Public Relations Officer of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, Mallam Adamu Muhammed, said people who protested were from a particular community they went for disconnection for non payment of their bills.

“When bill was shared to them, less than half of the community responded which was why we decided to disconnect those who didn’t pay. They didn’t allow us to do our work and that was when they started the protest and involved were those not paying the recommended current billing CHARGE of N2, 700 by NERC, “he said.

He added that revenue collection will determine improvement on supply, adding that they are already meeting with the stakeholders to find lasting solution to the problem.