Kebbi Residents Groan As Blackout Persits, Call For Help
From Ayodele Ajoge, Birtnin-Kebbi
Residents of Birtnin-Kebbi metropolis who have been thrown into total darkness for more than Fourteen days have been lamenting in frustration and anguished as it appeared there is no hope in sight for restoration of power supply in State capital.
It would be recalled that Birnin-Kebbi town and its environs was plugged into total darkness as a result of fire incidents that engulfed the the substation of the National grid on Thursday 14th of September.
The peoples woes compounded as there was no electricity to power electrical stoves for cooking their meals, Liquidfy Natural Gas (NLG) which had served as alternative for for cooking is not available to buy, in the last one week, LNG popularly called Gas is not easily available for cooking.
Only two gas plants are available in the entire State and these two which includes, Katangarawa gas plant and A.A Ramp gas plant are domiciled in Birnin-Kebbi town, the State capital.
Katangarawa plant has been put under lock and key since last weekend while A.A Ramp that is dispensing the community is besieged buy buyers with long que stretching up to 500 meters with different sizes of cylinders. Industrial cylinders also stretches up to 500 meters.
When our Correspondent visited A.A Ramp plant to know the genesis of the unnecessary que, the Station Manager, Malam Sulaiman Ahmed Al-Ameen explained that, there have been no supply from the main Depot in Lagos and Port Harcourt in the past 30 days, plants that have exhausted their products locked up since there is nothing to sell, no supply either.
Malam Al-Ameen called on the Federal Government to quickly intervene before things degenerated and get out of control.
Majority of families in the metropolis have resorted to buying firewood for their domestic cooking.
Trees planted to boost desertification are now being fell on daily basis to produce charcoal.
A bag of charcoal in Birnin-Kebbi is sold for N4,000 as st last weekend but with the scarcity of gas the price has gone up to N7,000 per bag.
Residents are therefore calling on the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency intervene to the suffering people are going through on daily basis.
