Idris Ahmed, Lokoja.
Lokoja residents and the business community on Lugard road, popularly refered to as NUJ in Lokoja, the state capital, have appealed to the Abuja Electrify Distribution Company (AEDC) to restore electricity to the area.
The busy Lugard Road, Lokoja, Kogi State, and its environs have been disconnected for over a fortnight, rendering businesses and residents incapacitated and poses a security threat
A press statement issued and signed by the Chairman of the Association Of Bar and Restaurant Owners Along NUJ, Solomon Atabo, stated that the blackout had adversely affected their businesses and economic activities in the areas.
He further said the blackout had affected businesses so much that their profit had taken a plunge since the power outage began.
This, he said, the residents and business premises had to rely mainly on their generator sets with the attendant cost of fuelling same.
“We have been running our businesses at a loss for the past two weeks. The worst thing is that customers have refused to understand since, at a slight increase in cost, they will not come back the next day.
“We, therefore, call on the management of AEDC to kindly restore our electricity and help to repair the transformer problem to permanently solve the issue of blackout in the area, and stem the tide of criminality.
“We also appeal to Kogi state Government to please intervene to ensure that normal power is restored, as strategic offices like Kogi NUJ Secretariat, NBA Secretariat, National Museum, Kogi state Hotel and Tourism, Magistrate and High Court are being affected by the blackout, he said.
