By Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna
Residents of Kaduna are counting their losses as a power outage, which began late last weekend, has persisted with no solution in sight.
The blackout, which plunged major parts of Kaduna, including military zones, into darkness, is yet to be restored despite assurances from the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company.
The company had earlier apologized to customers, stating that its technical staff were working to fix the problem. However, the promise of restoration has yet to materialize.
When contacted for an update, the company’s spokesman, Abdulazeez Abdullahi, did not respond before press time.
Electricity consumers, particularly low-income households without access to alternative power sources, have decried losses of perishable items such as fish and meat stored in their refrigerators. Many have appealed to the government to intervene and hasten restoration.
Hospitals and clinics have also been severely affected, with facilities lacking standby generators struggling to provide care in emergencies.
“Everything I put in the fridge—fish, meat, ‘kunu’ drinks—has all gone bad,” lamented Ene Simon, a resident of Gonin Gora. Others in Sabon Tasha and restaurant operators expressed similar frustrations.
The outage initially affected Jaji, NTA-Jaji, Igabi village, Military Cantonment, and nearby areas before extending to major parts of Kaduna town on September 18.
In a statement dated September 14, Abdulazeez Abdullahi, Head of Corporate Communications, apologized to customers and attributed the outage to technical issues at the Jaji Injection Substation.
Another statement issued on September 19 explained that the problem was caused by a collapsed 132kV transmission tower, which disrupted supply to the Kaduna Town Transmission Station.
“The Transmission Company of Nigeria team is already working with relevant stakeholders to ensure normal supply is restored as soon as possible,” the statement read.
The blackout has now dragged into a second week, with frustration growing among residents and businesses across the city.
