Residents of Bagadaza community in Akko Local Government Area of Gombe State have expressed deep frustration over a prolonged power outage caused by repeated faults in their electricity transformer.

The PUNCH reported that speaking on behalf of the affected residents, Mr. Gaius Lamela described the situation as both recurring and financially draining.

“Initially, when the transformer developed a fault, we were asked to contribute N800,000, and we managed to raise the money. Unfortunately, just two months later, it broke down again. This time, we were asked to pay N1.2 million before it was later reduced to N800,000. Now, the contractor is requesting N500,000 from us while he sources the balance from JEDC.

Given the current economic hardship, it is difficult for us to raise such an amount again,” Lamela said.

He further revealed that the strain the repeated contributions have placed on community relations is draining their finances.

“Some people even insulted me over the previous contributions. I’m not sure we can raise this money again, as I can not go back to some of them,” he added.

Another resident, Edward Aliyu, also lamented the impact of the blackout on daily living, noting that it has worsened the cost of living and affected residents’ well-being.

“Living here without electricity has taken a toll on many people’s health. The cost of living has tripled. We can not refrigerate food or cook in large quantities without the items going bad,” he lamented.

Aliyu also raised concerns about billing practices despite the prolonged outage.

“Surprisingly, we are still being billed for the six months we have been without power. In the past, we sought assistance from politicians in addition to contributions from over 200 households in the community. We even approached the Accountant-General, who promised to get back to us,” he added.

Meanwhile, efforts to reach the regional office of the Jos Electricity Distribution Company for comments were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.

However, the company’s spokesperson at its Jos headquarters, Saratu Aliyu, said she would liaise with the regional office to ascertain the situation.

“I am still expecting feedback from the state management. Please bear with me, I am working on it,” she told our correspondent.