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Residents Lament as Power Outage Enters Fourth Day in Katsina
🇳🇬 Nigeria /Economy & Trade

Residents Lament as Power Outage Enters Fourth Day in Katsina

From Premium Times · (9m ago) English Critical tone

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • Residents in Katsina metropolis and parts of Batagarawa Local Government Area, Nigeria, have been experiencing power outages for four consecutive days.
  • The Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) attributes the outage to a fault in a substation's transformer.
  • The prolonged blackout has caused significant hardship, including increased heat, security risks, and higher prices for essential goods like ice blocks.

Premium Times reports on the severe disruption faced by residents of Katsina metropolis and surrounding areas due to an extended power outage. The situation highlights the critical dependence on electricity and the cascading effects of its absence on daily life, security, and local commerce.

The last time we saw light in this area was on Saturday. Today is Thursday, so it has been four whole days.

— Rukayya ShehuA resident describing the duration of the power outage.

For four days, many households have been without electricity, a hardship exacerbated by the prevailing heat. Residents like Rukayya Shehu and Nafiu Aminu express their distress, with Aminu resorting to sleeping outdoors despite the associated risks of theft and crime. This underscores the basic need for reliable power, not just for comfort but also for safety and security.

Since there’s no light, I have to sleep outside but that’s also risky because we have thieves and Kauraye breaking into people’s houses to steal. Sleeping outside is dangerous but that’s the only option we have.

— Nafiu AminuA resident explaining the difficult choices forced by the lack of electricity.

The economic impact is also significant. Sellers of cold drinks and ice blocks have been forced to increase prices due to the added cost of running generators and the scarcity of ice. An ice block seller noted a price increase from N100 to N150-N170, illustrating how the outage directly affects the cost of living and the livelihoods of small business owners.

We also have to buy diesel to power our generating set. If there was light, we’ll not need to do that.

— An ice block sellerExplaining the increased costs due to the power outage.

Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) has acknowledged the fault, citing a problem with an 11kv incomer breaker at the 15MVA Transformer in the IBB way Injection Substation. While KEDCO has apologized and stated that its technical team is working on repairs, the duration of the outage has tested the patience and resilience of the affected communities. Premium Times' reporting brings attention to the daily struggles of ordinary citizens and the urgent need for swift resolution by the power company, reflecting a common concern in many parts of Nigeria regarding infrastructure reliability.

Dear Katsina Metropolis, we’re working swiftly to resolve the outage and restore your power supply.

— Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO)Official statement on X (formerly Twitter) addressing the outage.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Premium Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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