By Dawud Ahmed in Lokoja.
As most residents in Lokoja, kogi state,north central Nigeria groan unabated, due to the 36-hour power outage that hit the area since Monday, weather has become almost unbearable with serious telling effect on their social and economic activities.
Our correspondent in Lokoja gathered on Wednesday that the problem was caused , principally by low supply of gas to the regional office of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company AEDC to activate the electricity facilities for performance.
A reliable source from the regional office in Lokoja name witheld, said the management of the office were seriously worried over the lingering challenge and its sour effects on the social and economic life of the residents.
He urged the public to exercise patient, assuring that efforts were on to over the problem.
The online publication reports that the lack of electricity has further compounded the problem of the residents in Lokoja as they could not get public light to power fans and air conditioners to check the excessive heat being experienced usually at this period of every year in the area.
Some residents who spoke with our correspondent in Lokoja on the issue said they usually abandon their rooms in the night to sleep outside their houses,the general insecurity in the society notwithstanding, to avoid the ongoing terrible heat, characteristic of Lokoja weather condition.
Others expressed regret that they had lost many food items, such as soup,fresh fish, vegetables among others, kept in refrigerator as the foods went rotten due lack of light of electricity to activate the refrigerator.
Many residents, who have generating set, expressed regret that they could not afford the cut-throat price of fuel (N670-N700) per litre to activate such machine to have alternative light.
However, residents of the area connected to 33kv transformer are not affected by the current power outage but they are in minority population of Lokoja and its environs.
The residents reiterated their call on AEDC to find lasting solution to the problem to avert the health implications of the excessive heat as well as that of social and economic negative consequences on them and their dependants and the larger society.
At about 4.30 p.m that this story was published on Wednesday,the “blackout” continued,at least in Gadumo quarters of Lokoja,which also has one of the offices of AEDC.
